William Scharf

Bright Vibrant Pop Art Silkscreen Lithograph Print NYC Abstract Expressionist

c.1970

Red Angel, intensely and seductively colored: swooning purples and reds, ecstatic lemon yellows, and black construction paper. Jostling shapes, geometric and biomorphic, lyrical and hard-edged, refuse to resolve neatly Assemblage, a bold strategy to keep viewers unsettled and curious, the reward for which are profuse and luscious details: varied incidents of refinement, suggestive signs, most in a private code, not merely ornamental but integral to the overall message. William Scharf (born 1927, Media, PA) is an American artist from New York, he teaches at The Art Students League of New York. Painting with acrylics, he was a member of the New York School movement. Often categorized as a late generation Abstract Expressionist, Known for producing paintings with abstract compositions incorporating biomorphic and geometric forms in vivid colors, the artist was influenced by Surrealism, the Color Field painters, and symbolism. He apprenticed with Mark Rothko and was influenced by his color field paintings. The surrealist painter Arshile Gorky and the Abstract expressionism style found in 1950s New York City also influenced Scharf. His exhibits include San Francisco Art Institute (1969), the Pepperdine University's Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art (2001), and Richard York Gallery in New York City (2004). In the heyday of Abstract Expressionism, being serious meant following the tenets of the New York School, which required abstract paintings to be spontaneous improvisations, the messier the better. At once hedonistic and disciplined, his brazen paintings are nothing if not promiscuous. The best ones mix the dynamism of gestural abstraction with sensual rhythms of decorative patterning, sometimes souping up the stew with cartoonish symbols and flourishes so ripe they belong in a dandy's fantasies. His exhibits include San Francisco Art Institute (1969), the Pepperdine University's Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art (2001) and Richard York Gallery in New York City (2004). Scharf's work has been exhibited in a number of galleries, including the Anita Shapolsky Gallery, Meredith Ward Fine Art, and Hollis Taggart Galleries in New York City. Scharf has been an instructor of art at various institutions including The Art Students League, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the School of Visual Arts in New York. He is a member of the Society of Illustrators and the Artists Equity Association. EDUCATION 1944-49 The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts — Philadelphia, PA (1948 Cresson Scholar) 1949 The University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, PA 1948 The Academie de la Grand Chaumiere — Paris, France 1947 The Barnes Foundation — Merion, PA 1939-41 Samuel Fleisher Memorial School— Philadelphia, PA (also known as Graphic Sketch Club) TEACHING HISTORY Instructor: Painting & Drawing 1987-Present Art Students League, New York, NY 1989, 74, 69, 66, 63 San Francisco Institute of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA 1965-69 he School of Visual Arts, New York, NY 1964 Art Center of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY Guest Lecturer 1979 Pratt Institute, New York, NY 1974 Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 1974 California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, CA Recent Solo Exhibitions: 2005 Meredith Ward Fine Art, New York, NY 2004 Richard York Gallery, New York, NY 2002 P.S.1/MOMA, Queens, NY 2001 The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Malibu, CA 2000-2001 The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC Selected Group Exhibitions: 2005 National Academy of Design, New York, NY 2005 Peter McPhee Fine Arts, Stone Harbor...

Edward Avedisian (1936-2007) Cleo, Fur Queen, 1969 Lithograph in color on Arches wove paper. Hand signed, dated and numbered in pencil. Edition 100 Dimensions: 22.25 inches X 30.25...

This print depicts a non-objective composition of organic shapes rendered in vibrant hues of color upon a field of white. Hand signed by artist in pencil lower right. Title and numb...

1982-84 Hunter College, New York (M.F.A.) 1978-80 School of Visual Arts, New York 1973-77 Bezalel Academy of Art, Jerusalem (B.F.A.) American, born in Romania Lives and works in New York City Solo Exhibitions 2008 Michael Steinberg Fine Art, New York 2006 Galeria Joan Prats, Barcelona 2005 Karpio + Facchini Gallery, Miami Jacob Karpio Galeria, San Jose (Costa Rica) 2004 Michael Steinberg Fine Art, New York 2001 Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milan 2000 Von Lintel & Nusser, New York Galerie Von Lintel & Nusser, Munich 1998 Galerie Thomas von Lintel, Munich 1997 Galerie des Archives, Paris 1995 Galerie Samuel Lallouz, Montreal L.A. Louver, Los Angeles 1994 Marc Jancou Gallery, London Galerie des Archives, Paris 1993 Galerie Barbara Farber, Amsterdam Real Art Ways, Hartford (Connecticut) 1992 Tom Cugliani Gallery, New York Galerie Marc Jancou, Zurich Galerie des Archives, Paris 1989 Tom Cugliani Gallery, New York Galerie Barbara Farber, Amsterdam Studied at bezalel from 1973 to 1977. And it was a very fascinating time because it was a highly conceptually based school. Very much influenced by Joseph Beuys, and European Conceptualism, I didn’t really like the atmosphere there that much, because it was dominated by male painters like Jörg Immendorf, Marcus Lupertz, and a few others. then came to New York to study at SVA for two years. New York in 1978 was exciting. I was very lucky to be in a class that was full of very bubbly and very energetic artists like Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, Tim Rollins, Moira Dryer, Frank Holliday, and Tom Cugliani (who later became one of my dealers).The eighties were dominated largely by Neo-Expressionist paintings. There were Germans, such as Baselitz, Kiefer, Richter, Penck, and the Italians, Clemente, Chia, Cucchi, Palladino as well as Schnabel, Fischl, Basquiat, Salle, and many others, but all of their paintings were figuratively based. But below the popular consent, there was a group of painters who were working more in the vein of what Stephen Westfall referred to as “Neo-Surrealism,” including George Condo, Jeffrey Wasserman, Kenneth Scharf, David Humphrey. However, I felt that Carroll Dunham and you were the only two painters who seemed to be less interested in the kind of narrative, lyrical, or let’s say, stationary composition. He belongs to the generation of Terry Winters, Elizabeth Murray, David Reed and Jonathan Lasker but in some strange way, if we’re looking back to the mid-eighties, we have to include New Image painters like Susan Rothenberg, Neil Jenney, and Robert Moskowitz who were working in between the figure and abstraction with a kind of condensation and compression, in relationship, lets say, to cartoon imagery. There are artists like Jeff Koons, or even Damien Hirst who took the Duchampian aspect and brought it into the continuity of his readymade. But for me, I see no difference between the crack in “Large Glass” and the drips in Jackson Pollock’s paintings. There was something that I felt in my own equation of the continuity between Paul Klee, Duchamp, Picabia, and, oddly enough, Clyfford Still. What essentially is important is how different artists carry on a dialogue among themselves so that they can all keep their work vital. Whether from the abstract paintings of Richmond Burton, Fabian Marcaccio extending the borders of his paintings on to the wall, or Cady Noland’s early scattered installation, my own pre-occupation with machinery, urban environment, and the Duchampian models has always materialized in relationship to other forms of art making. Selected Group Exhibitions: 2014 Drawing on Difference: An Ambition by Saul Ostrow and Lidija Slavkovic, Studio Vendome Gallery, New York. 2013 Drawing on Habit: An Ambition by Saul Ostrow and Lidija Slavkovic, South Carlton Beach and The Betsy-South Beach Exhibition Programs, Art Basel, Miami Beach. 2013 Imprinted Pictures: Lydia Dona...

A colorful abstract silkscreen by American artist, Douglas Leichter (1946-). The print is signed and numbered in pencil. Douglas Leichter, (1946) D...

Artist: Jose Guinovert, Spanish (1927 - 2007) Title: Untitled Year: circa 1970 Medium: Serigraph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 57/75 Paper Size: 20 x 27.5 in. (50.8 x 69.8...

A colorful abstract silkscreen by American artist, Douglas Leichter (1946-). The print is signed and numbered in pencil. Douglas Leichter, (1946) D...

Victor Rosado, Puerto Rican (1938 - ) - Abstract Composition, Year: circa 1975, Medium: Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 94/400, Image Size: 18.25 x 14.5 inch...