Frances Kornbluth (July 26, 1920 – May 26, 2014) was an American

abstract expressionist Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of th ...

painter.

Biography

Frances Kornbluth was born in New York City on July 26, 1920. Originally intent on becoming a composer, Kornbluth graduated from Brooklyn College in 1940 with a degree in music; however, in the 1950s she focused her creative energies on painting. Kornbluth studied at the

Brooklyn Museum Art School The Brooklyn Museum Art School was a non-degree-granting professional school that opened at the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York in the summer of 1941. The Brooklyn Museum Art School provided instruction for amateur artists as well until Janua ...

from 1955 to 1959, where she first met

Reuben Tam Reuben Tam (January 17, 1916 – January 3, 1991) was an American landscape painter, educator, poet and graphic artist. Early life and education He was born in Kapa'a on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i. He earned a BA degree from the Universi ...

, and went on to receive a master's degree from the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was founded in 1887 ...

in 1962. It was Tam who first introduced Kornbluth to

Monhegan Island Monhegan () is an island in the Gulf of Maine located in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. A plantation, a minor civil division in the state of Maine falling between unincorporated area and a town, it is located about off the mainland. The ...

and helped define her as an artist. Kornbluth died on May 26, 2014 at the age of 93.

Works

The natural environment was the primary source of Kornbluth's inspiration, particularly that of Monhegan Island where she summered and painted from 1959 to 2013.Harris, Patricia and David Lyon. "Painting on Maine's Monhegan Island." ''The Boston Globe'' August 27, 2006.
/ref> Kornbluth painted at her studio in Lobster Cove on Monhegan and at her studio in Northeastern Connecticut. She worked in oil, pastel, acrylic, watercolor, ink and mixed media collage. Her work continues to be exhibited in both galleries and museums. Recent exhibits include: * "Collage: Piecing It Together" at the

Portland Museum of Art The Portland Museum of Art, or PMA, is the largest and oldest public art institution in the U.S. state of Maine. Founded as the Portland Society of Art in 1882. It is located in the downtown area known as The Arts District in Portland, Maine. His ...

(2010) * "On Island: Women Artists of Monhegan" at the

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 18,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 3,000 students See also *New England Colle ...

(2007) * "Monhegan: The Abstracted Island" at the

Bates College Museum of Art The Bates College Museum of Art (also known locally simply as the Museum of Art or MoA) is an art museum located on the campus of, and maintained by, Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. It holds various mediums of arts that showcase Maine and the ...

(2001) * "Overview: Four Decades" at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

(1996)

Awards

* Lifetime Achievement Award, Brooklyn College (2000) * Miriam E. Halpern Memorial Award,

National Association of Women Artists The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

(1992) * John Carl Georgo Memorial Award,

(1989) * Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation Prize,

(1982) * Helen Henningson Memorial Prize for Oil,

(1977) * Charles H. Woodbury Prize for Landscape,

(1975) * The Elizabeth Rungius Fulda Memorial Prize for Lyrical Landscape,

(1968) * Medal of Honor,

(1968) * Catherine & Henry J. Gaisman Prize for Watercolor,

(1961) * Medal of Honor,

(1961)

References

External links

Website of Frances KornbluthFrances Kornbluth on AskART
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kornbluth, Frances 1920 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American painters 21st-century American women artists Abstract expressionist artists Artists from New York (state) Brooklyn College alumni Pratt Institute alumni National Association of Women Artists members American women painters Painters from Maine Jewish women painters Jewish painters