John Button Nude Paintings

John Button was a fine draftsman and drew from life models throughout his career. However, little-known are his sketches of male nudes and studio models from the School of Visual Arts, where Button taught, as well as personal acquaintances. Born in California, Button was educated at University of California, Berkeley. After moving to New York City in the early 1950s, he became friends with Fairfield Porter and Frank O’Hara and assumed his part in the New York School of painters and poets. Amidst the frenzy of Abstract Expressionism, Button remained true to his interest in Realism and was most commonly associated with such New York School artists as Fairfield Porter, Jane Freilicher and Alex Katz, among others.