Tom Kass
It Is A Fearful Thing
2018

About the Item

It Is A Fearful Thing, acrylic on museum board, 8.5 x 9.5 inches (Framed size: 17 x 16 inches), $650 Tom Kass was born on the East Coast to a father who was a chemist/ lawyer and the son of the owner of the Grand Union Hotels in Albany, New York. He studied sculpture at Cooper Union -- becoming one of the 2% of applicants earning a Certificate in Design in 1958 -- before moving on to Yale, where he studied under the direction and recommendation of Josef Albers. Upon completion of his BFA at Yale, Kass went on to study sculpture at the University of Washington. There he met Robert Reed, who recommended Kass for a teaching position at the University of Utah. For 37 years Kass taught foundation courses in the Department of Architecture at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He is a firm believer in the study of a variety of disciplines and applied this concept rigorously to the architecture program at the U. It should come as no surprise then that in addition to being an accomplished professor of architecture, he is also a seasoned painter. Influenced by the postwar art movements by which he was surrounded in his early days (studying under Josef Albers at Yale for a time) and by his lengthy studies in sculpture, Kass bases his work in firm structure while still allowing for the unexpected to play a role. “Like the good traveler, the artist, architect or designer may have a destination- a plan- which he desires to achieve but the plan should not be rigid in its conception,” he says. “It is the artist’s journey that is as important as his arrival at a final solution.” He is a Professor Emeritus in the University of Utah’s College of Architecture and Planning, an ACSA Distinguished Professor and the recipient of the Distinguished Professor Teaching Award from the University of Utah in Architecture in 1979. During his long and tenured career in teaching in Utah, Kass spent quite a few years collaborating with Korean design professors, presenting lectures for the Royal Asiatic Society in Korea. He currently works as an architectural advisor to several architecture firms in Salt Lake City.

Creator:

Tom Kass (1936, American)

Creation Year:

2018

Dimensions:

Height: 8.5 in (21.59 cm)Width: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)

Medium:

Acrylic,Board

Movement & Style:

Abstract Geometric

Period:

2010-