Robert Natkin Paintings
American, 1930-2010
Robert Natkin was born in Chicago on November 7, 1930 into a large family of Russian Jewish immigrants. In 1945 the family moved to Tennessee though soon returned to Chicago where Natkin would attend the Art Institute of Chicago (1948-1952). The museum’s collection of Post-Impressionist paintings, especially those of Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse and the whimsical abstractions of Paul Klee, were significant influences on the young artist. Natkin’s influences outside the art world included frequent trips to the Field Museum of Natural History where he was exposed to stylized Native American and Peruvian textiles.
Introduced to Abstract-Expressionism in New York in 1952, Natkin was especially drawn to the works of Willem de Kooning who’s agitated marks he began to emulate though after returning to Chicago in 1953 he abandoned ties to action painting and began to form what would become his familiar color field abstraction motif. In 1957 Natkin, now married to fellow artist Judith Dolnick, opened the Wells Street Gallery which showed the works of like-minded Chicago artists including sculptor John Chamberlain and photographer Aaron Siskind as well as New York artists they admired. Due to limited patronage however this was a short-lived venture and, seeking greater opportunities, the couple moved to New York in 1959. Natkin continued to develop bold bright fields of color and texture in his paintings finding success among the Poindexter Galleries stable of up-and-coming artists. Immersed in New York’s dynamic art scene through the 1960s and 70s, Natkin continued to evolve his style through his Apollo series, Field Mouse series, and Intimate Lighting series which includes Remembrance is the Secret of Redemption, Forgetfulness Leads to Exile. Other series followed in a long and successful career. Natkin died in Danbury, Connecticut, on April 20, 2010.
Robert Natkin has been the subject of numerous one-man exhibitions and has been included in many more group exhibitions. His work is in the permanent collections of dozens of national and international museums including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Additionally Natkin’s colossal 20 x 42 foot mural, executed in 1992, can be seen in the lobby of New York’s Rockefeller Center.to
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Artist: Robert Natkin
Untitled in original brass frame with catalog for 1976 exhibitions
By Robert Natkin
Located in Charleston, US
A member of the original abstract expressionists, Robert Natkin's "Untitled" (1978) is a stunning acrylic painting, showcasing pastel colors in a minimalist, color field style. This ...
Category
1970s Minimalist Robert Natkin Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Gallery No. 455, 1963, Apollo Series
By Robert Natkin
Located in New York, NY
Gallery # 455
1963
Apollo Series
Acrylic on Canvas.
76 x 76 in.
In childhood, Natkin recalls a dream where he dives into an Oriental rug and as he floats down into the rug he passes...
Category
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Robert Natkin Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Vertical Abstract Expressionist Pink and Yellow Painting, Modern Art
By Robert Natkin
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Robert Natkin
Singing and Dancing, 2003
Acrylic on canvas
72 x 60 inches
RNa069
Celebrated as an unsurpassed colorist and for the beauty of his large-scale abstract works, Robert Na...
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Robert Natkin Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Horizontal Abstract Expressionist Blue and Orange Painting, Modern Art
By Robert Natkin
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Robert Natkin
The Cross and the Star, 2000
Acrylic on canvas
54.5 x 96.25 inches
RNa070
Celebrated as an unsurpassed colorist and for the beauty of his large-scale abstract works, R...
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Robert Natkin Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Horizontal Abstract Expressionist Red and Blue Painting, Modern Art
By Robert Natkin
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Robert Natkin
Untitled (Hitchcock), 1988
Acrylic on canvas
61.25 x 70 inches
155.6 x 177.8 cm
RNa068
Celebrated as an unsurpassed colorist and for the beauty of his large-scale abst...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Natkin Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Horizontal Abstract Expressionist Painting with Multicolor Stripes, Modern Art
By Robert Natkin
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Robert Natkin
Apollo, 617, 1982
Acrylic on canvas
48 x 55 inches
RNa085
Celebrated as an unsurpassed colorist and for the beauty of his large-scale abstract works, Robert Natkin was...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Natkin Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Abstract expressionist, blue, pink, red, acrylic on paper mounted on canvas
By Robert Natkin
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Robert Natkin
Night Goings On, 2005
Acrylic on paper mounted on canvas
41 x 54 inches
104 x 137 cm
RNa047
Celebrated as an unsurpassed colorist and for the beauty of his large-scale...
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Robert Natkin Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic, Paper
Abstract expressionist, geometric, small, pink, blue, red, acrylic on canvas
By Robert Natkin
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Robert Natkin
Hitchcock Series
Acrylic on canvas
14 x 12 inches
35.6 x 30.5 cm
RNa056
Celebrated as an unsurpassed colorist and for the beauty of his large-scale abstract works, Rob...
Category
2010s Abstract Expressionist Robert Natkin Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Abstract expressionist, geometric, multicolor stripes, acrylic on canvas
By Robert Natkin
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Robert Natkin
Untitled, 1963
Acrylic on canvas
62.75 x 38 inches
159.4 x 96.5 cm
RNa031
Celebrated as an unsurpassed colorist and for the beauty of his large-scale abstract works, R...
Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Robert Natkin Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic
Abstract expressionist, geometric, large, pink, orange, blue, acrylic on canvas
By Robert Natkin
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Robert Natkin
The Stranger, 1984
Acrylic on canvas
84 x 72 inches
213.4 x 183 cm
RNa026
Celebrated as an unsurpassed colorist and for the beauty of his large-scale abstract works, R...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Robert Natkin Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Bath Apollo Series "Blue Gaze"
By Robert Natkin
Located in New York, NY
Blue Gaze, 1977, by Robert Natkin (1930-2010)
Acrylic on canvas
66 x 66 inches framed 25.98 x 25.98 cm)
Signed on bottom right
In childhood, Natkin recalls a dream where he dives into an Oriental rug and as he floats down into the rug he passes through bejeweled mazes of color that appear exotic to him. This recurring dream is not surprising to anyone familiar with this artist's work, since much of Natkin's work reminds one of textiles. He achieves this look by his use of cross-hatching, blottings, dottings and his own technique of transferring textures right onto the canvas by pressing with a heavy cloth or paper towel.
Exhibitions:
In 1957, Momentum, Chicago, IL
In 1968, Pointdexter Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
In 1969, San Francisco Museum of Art (retrospective 1952-1969), San Francisco, CA (solo)
In 1974, Within the Decade: Selections from the Guggenheim Museum Permanent Collection, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
In 1980, Masters of American Watercolor, The Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, OK
In 1992, Gimpel Fils Gallery, London, UK (solo)
In 2007, LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe...
Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Robert Natkin Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
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Located in Palm Desert, CA
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"Intimate Lighting Series, " Robert Natkin Abstract Expressionist Lyrical Color
By Robert Natkin
Located in New York, NY
Robert Natkin (American, 1930 - 2010)
Intimate Lighting Series, 1978
Acrylic on canvas
34 x 45 inches
Signed lower left
Provenance:
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Private Collection, Connecticut
Intimate Lighting is part of a series of the same name, which is characterized by textured surfaces, modulating tonalities and floating calligraphic shapes. The work is spare and highly atmospheric.
One of the most important abstract painters of his generation, Robert Natkin was known for his innovative blending of form, pattern, color and space to create a distinctly personal and lyrical style. Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1930, Natkin began his studies at the Art Institute of Chicago in the early fifties. In 1957, Natkin and his wife, fellow painter Judith Dolnick, opened Wells Street Gallery which featured the work of artists such as Aaron Siskind, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, and John Chamberlain. Seeking further opportunities to show his work, Natkin moved to New York City in 1959, and was represented by Poindexter Gallery and later André Emmerich. Natkin was the subject of solo exhibitions throughout the country and abroad, most notably at the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., the Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain, Grand Palais, Paris, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Additionally, Natkin was featured in a number of prominent group shows, such as Young America at the Whitney Museum of Art, New York, in 1960.
In the crowded field of Post-War Abstraction, Robert Natkin’s lifetime exploration of color and light set him apart. His poetic paintings combine a Post-Impressionist color sensibility with the lyricism of Paul Klee, a major influence on the artist. Celebrated in his lifetime even as abstraction fell in and out of favor, Natkin remained stubbornly committed to his vision and produced cohesive and challenging work throughout his career. The high-keyed color and all-over treatment recalls the work of Pierre Bonnard, as well as American Modernist Stuart Davis. Indeed, Natkin’s work can be seen as a bridge between the flattened non-objective forms of the American Abstract Artists group of the 1930s and 40s such as Josef Albers, Suzy Frelinghuysen, A. E. Gallatin, Paul Kelpe, George L. K. Morris, and the increasing graphicness found in contemporary abstraction, by painters like Trudy Benson, Keltie Ferris, and Jonathan Lasker.
In 1963, the geography of Natkin’s paintings began to take on a different look. The tangent vertical structures of the Apollo series, with their semi-fixed framework, freed the artist from earlier compositional constraints. Within this simplified structure, Natkin could now concentrate further on paint application and surface rather than on broader structural concerns. Named for the Greek god of the sun and of poetry, the paintings of the Apollo series reflect Natkin’s preoccupation with light and with the interplay between light and color.
Paul Cézanne feared that his fellow artist Paul Gauguin would steal what he referred to as his “little sensations,” the vibrations resulting from contrasting colors. It is precisely this glowing and resonance, described by Natkin as a kind of “visual vibrato” that began to increasingly preoccupy Natkin in the mid-1960s. The vertical planes of his Apollo canvases served as pre-defined spatial strips, a set of separate yet interacting counterparts, in which the artist could safely play with hue modulation and counterpoint.
The spatial aesthetic of the Apollo paintings...
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1970s Abstract Expressionist Robert Natkin Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
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By Robert Natkin
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Robert Natkin, American (1930 - 2010)
Title: Bath Series Untitled
Year: 1977
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 25 in. x 35 in. (63.5 cm x 88.9 cm)
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Robert Natkin Paintings
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Robert Natkin paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Robert Natkin paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of paintings to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Robert Natkin in paint, acrylic paint, synthetic resin paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Robert Natkin paintings, so small editions measuring 15 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Elwood Howell, Richard Andres, and Amaranth Ehrenhalt. Robert Natkin paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,850 and tops out at $85,000, while the average work can sell for $45,000.