Frederic Matys Thursz (1930–1992) was a Moroccan abstract

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and teacher. He was active in the United States and France. His paintings have been shown at the Galerie Lelong,

Jefferson Place Gallery The Jefferson Place Gallery was an art gallery in Washington, D.C., founded in 1957 and closed in 1974. It had been located at 1216 Connecticut Street, NW in Washington, D.C.. The gallery was associated with the Washington Color School artists. ...

, and in the

Documenta 9 DOCUMENTA IX was the ninth edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 13 June and 20 September 1992 in Kassel, Germany. The artistic director was Jan Hoet in collaboration with Bart de Baere, Denys Zac ...

exhibition.

Career

Frederic Matys Thursz was born in

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

on July 7, 1930 and he moved to the United States with his parents in 1941. Thursz received his BFA degree from

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

in 1953, his MFA degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1955. He did doctoral studies in art history at

Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie The ''Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie'', also known as the Michelet Campus, is a building at 3 rue Michelet in Paris, built for the educational institution of the same name (French for "Institute of Art and Archaeology"). It was initially design ...

in Paris, France. In 1978 he founded the group "Radical Painting" with Jerry Zeniuk, Joseph Marioni, Günther Umberg, Erik Saxon, and Marcia Hafif, among others. Thursz taught at

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

from 1958 to 1968, and at Aspen School of Contemporary Art from 1967 to 1969. He taught at

Kingsborough Community College Kingsborough Community College (KCC) is a public community college in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system and the only community college in Brooklyn. History Founded in 1963, Kingsb ...

(

CUNY The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

) from 1968 to1991; where he was chairman of the Art Department. From 1978 to 1988, he taught at the

New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture The New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture at 8 West 8th Street, in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York State is an art school formed in 1963 by a group of students and their teacher, Mercedes Matter, all o ...

Personal life

He was married three times, Miryam Neulander, Teresea Bennett, Nina Lunenborg Thursz. He had four children. Thursz lived in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

until his death in 1992. He died of complications after heart surgery on July 4, 1992 in Cologne, Germany. He had held an art studio in Ossining,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, until his death.

References

External links

Frederic Matys Thursz
a
ArtFacts.Net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thursz, Frederic Matys Abstract artists 1930 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Moroccan painters Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Queens College, City University of New York alumni University of Kentucky faculty New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture faculty Kingsborough Community College faculty People from Ossining, New York People from Casablanca 20th-century male artists Moroccan male painters