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Paul Gorka[Studies in Fragility] – Oil on Canvas Still Life by Paul Gorka, circa 1965circa 1965
circa 1965
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About the Item
PAUL GORKA – UNTITLED [STUDIES IN FRAGILITY]
Oil on Canvas ⚜ Signed Lower Right ⚜ Custom Conservation Frame
A COMPLEX, SYMBOLIC STILL LIFE OF MIDCENTURY AMERICAN INTROSPECTION
Untitled [Studies in Fragility] captures the quiet tension between beauty and decay. In this richly detailed still life, Paul Gorka balances familiar household objects—open books, withering flowers, raw eggs, brittle paper scrolls, and glass jars—within a theatrical composition that invites the viewer to linger. The result is a tableau that both honors and questions the structures we rely on: intellectual, domestic, and emotional. The warm palette, dramatic lighting, and symbolic density are hallmarks of Gorka’s work, which frequently wove classical technique with modern psychological inquiry.
Meticulously rendered and conceptually layered, this rare midcentury canvas is framed in a custom archival wood frame with a canvas liner and remains in excellent condition.
WHY COLLECT THIS WORK?
✓ Rare large-scale still life by Paul Gorka, a leading figure in Philadelphia’s postwar realist movement
✓ Signed by the artist, lower right
✓ Symbolic subject matter reflecting themes of impermanence, knowledge, and personal history
✓ Conservation framed in custom wood frame with canvas liner
✓ Evocative fusion of American realism and European classical influence
ARTWORK DETAILS:
▸ Title: Untitled [Studies in Fragility]
▸ Artist: Paul Gorka (1927–2020)
▸ Medium: Oil on Canvas
▸ Creation Date: circa 1965
▸ Country of Creation: United States
▸ Signed: Hand-Signed Lower Right
▸ Dimensions:
— ◼︎ Artwork Size: 36.25 x 48.25 inches
— ◻︎ Frame Size: 42 x 54.125 x 1.5 inches
▸ Condition: Excellent – Strong color and surface integrity
▸ Framing: Custom Wood Frame with Canvas Liner – Ready to hang
INCLUDED DOCUMENTATION:
✓ Certificate of Authenticity
✓ Artist Biography Document
THE ARTIST:
Paul Gorka was a Philadelphia-based painter celebrated for his psychologically charged still lifes and portraits. Born in 1927, Gorka studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and later taught at Drexel University. Though formally trained in classical methods, Gorka developed a unique visual language rooted in personal symbolism, surreal undertones, and richly composed interiors.
Gorka’s work explores emotional tension through everyday objects—glass vessels, musical instruments, handwritten notes—often arranged in theatrical spaces or dreamlike settings. He remained committed to realism even as abstraction dominated the mid-20th-century art world, and his work stands today as a vital document of postwar introspection.
His paintings have been exhibited at institutions such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Woodmere Art Museum, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Gorka’s works are held in both private and public collections and remain significant to collectors of American realist and visionary art.
- Creator:Paul Gorka (1931, American)
- Creation Year:circa 1965
- Dimensions:Height: 42 in (106.68 cm)Width: 54.125 in (137.48 cm)Depth: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:This piece is well-preserved, in great condition, framed, and ready to hang.
- Gallery Location:Miami, FL
- Reference Number:Seller: 1012181stDibs: LU2843216403352
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