Samuel M. Kootz (23 August 1898 – 7 August 1982) was a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...

and author whose Kootz Gallery was one of the first to champion

Abstract Expressionist Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

painting.Grace Glueck, "Samuel M. Kootz Dead at 83; An Activist for American Art," ''New York Times'', 9 August 1982. Between 1945 and 1966, in galleries on 57th Street or Madison Avenue, this "tall, genial southerner" represented avant-garde American and European artists. In the 1930s and early forties, while working in advertising and the fabric industry, Kootz had found time to write about modern art. In two books and letters to the ''New York Times'' he decried realistic American regionalism and European-inspired abstraction while urging American artists to create a new form of expressive abstract art. His gallery became a proving ground for his aesthetic ideas. In 1947 he gained renown by holding the first American exhibition of wartime Picassos. He purchased the Picassos by flying to Paris in late 1946, introducing himself to

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and convincing him that sales of his work would help to support the Kootz Gallery's inventive young artists :

William Baziotes William Baziotes (June 11, 1912 – June 6, 1963) was an American painter influenced by Surrealism and was a contributor to Abstract Expressionism. Life and career Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Greek parents Angelos and Stella, Baziotes w ...

Romare Bearden Romare Bearden (, ) (September 2, 1911 – March 12, 1988) was an American artist, author, and songwriter. He worked with many types of media including cartoons, oils, and collages. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bearden grew up in New York C ...

, Byron Browne,

Adolph Gottlieb Adolph Gottlieb (March 14, 1903 – March 4, 1974) was an American abstract expressionist painterChilvers, Ian & Claves-Smith, John eds., ''Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. pp. 282-283 who also m ...

Carl Holty Carl Robert Holty (1900–1973) was a German-born American abstract painter. Raised in Wisconsin, he was the first major abstract painter to gain notoriety from the state. Harold Rosenberg described Holty as "a figure of our art history," known ...

, and

Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist Painting, painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of th ...

. Over the years Kootz continued to buy paintings directly from Picasso. Kootz also exhibited work by

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

, James Brooks,

Giorgio Cavallon Giorgio Cavallon (March 3, 1904 – December 22, 1989) was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists and a pioneer Abstract Expressionist. Biography Giorgio Cavallon was born March 3, 1904, in Sorio, a hamlet of the municipality of Ga ...

Arshile Gorky Arshile Gorky ( ; born Vostanik Manoug Adoian, ; April 15, 1904 – July 21, 1948) was an Armenian Americans, Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of his life as a national of the ...

, David Hare,

Hans Hofmann Hans Hofmann (March 21, 1880 – February 17, 1966) was a German-born American painter, renowned as both an artist and teacher. His career spanned two generations and two continents, and is considered to have both preceded and influenced Abstrac ...

Ibram Lassaw Ibram Lassaw (May 4, 1913 – December 30, 2003) was an Egyptian-born American sculptor of Russian heritage, known for non-objective construction in brazed metals. Early life and education Lassaw was born on May 4, 1913, in Alexandria, Egypt, o ...

Herbert Ferber Herbert Ferber (April 30, 1906 – August 20, 1991) was an American painter and sculptor. He is an abstract expressionist and is considered a vital member of the New York School." Background Herbert Ferber Silvers was born on April 30 ...

, Raymond Parker,

William Ronald William Ronald Smith (August 13, 1926 – February 9, 1998), known professionally as William Ronald, was an important Canadian painter, best known as the founder of the influential Canadian abstract art group Painters Eleven in 1953 and for his ...

Tony Rosenthal Bernard J. Rosenthal (August 9, 1914 – July 28, 2009),Grimes, William New York Times, July 31, 2009. also known as Tony Rosenthal, was an American Abstract art, abstract sculptor widely known for his monumental public art sculptures, created ...

Conrad Marca-Relli Conrad Marca-Relli (born Corrado Marcarelli; June 5, 1913 – August 29, 2000) was an American artist who belonged to the early generation of New York School Abstract Expressionist artists whose artistic innovation by the 1950s had been rec ...

Georges Mathieu Georges Mathieu (27 January 1921 – 10 June 2012) was a French abstract painter, art theorist, and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is considered one of the fathers of European lyrical abstraction, a trend of informalism. B ...

Emil Schumacher Emil Schumacher (29 August 1912 in Hagen, Westfalen – 4 October 1999 in San José, Ibiza) was a German painter. He was an important representative of abstract expressionism in post-war Germany. In 2009 the Kunstquartier Hagen was inaugura ...

Pierre Soulages Pierre Jean Louis Germain Soulages (; ; 24 December 1919 – 25 October 2022) was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor. In 2014, President François Hollande of France described him as "the world's greatest living artist." His works are he ...

, Kumi Sugaï, Zao Wou Ki, and others. In 1962, the eminent critic

Clement Greenberg Clement Greenberg () (January 16, 1909 – May 7, 1994), occasionally writing under the pseudonym K. Hardesh, was an American essayist known mainly as an art critic closely associated with American modern art of the mid-20th century and a formali ...

praised Kootz by comparing him favorably to other dealers. While Greenberg considered some dealers to be successful "financially and artistically" and a few others to be "dedicated and creative," Kootz was the only one to whom he could ascribe all of those attributes.

Early years

Samuel Melvin Kootz was born on August 23, 1898, in Portsmouth, Virginia. He received a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Virginia in 1921 and practiced law for a year. While attending college he spent many weekends in New York City, observing modern art in its most advanced art galleries, especially those run by

Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (; January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was k ...

and Charles Daniel.Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution: Interview of Samuel M. Kootz conducted by Dorothy Seckler, 13 April 196

/ref> Between 1919 and 1921 he became acquainted with progressive artists, including

Peter Blume Peter Blume (27 October 1906 – 30 November 1992) was an American painter and sculptor. His work contained elements of folk art, Precisionism, Parisian Purism, Cubism, and Surrealism. Biography Blume, born in Smarhon, Russian Empire to a Je ...

Charles Demuth Charles Henry Buckius Demuth (November 8, 1883 – October 23, 1935) was an American painter who specialized in watercolors and turned to oils late in his career, developing a style of painting known as Precisionism. "Search the history of Amer ...

Preston Dickinson William Preston Dickinson (September 9, 1889 – November 25, 1930) was an American modern artist, best known for his paintings of industrial subjects in the Precisionist style. Biography William Preston Dickinson was born on September 9, 18 ...

Yasuo Kuniyoshi was a Japanese-American painter, photographer and printmaker. Early life Kuniyoshi was born on September 1, 1889, in Okayama, Japan. He immigrated to the United States in 1906 at 17, choosing not to attend military school in Japan. Kuniyoshi ...

John Marin John Marin (December 23, 1870 – October 2, 1953) was an early American modernist visual artist. He is known for his abstract landscape paintings and watercolors. Early life and education Marin was born on December 23, 1870, in Rutherford, N ...

, and

Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economy, political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sc ...

.Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution: Interview of Samuel M. Kootz conducted by John Morse, 2 March 196

/ref> Kootz moved to New York in 1923, pursuing a career in advertising while involving himself in the city's art world. During this period he began to purchase art. For instance, in fall 1928 he bought Peter Blume's ''The Bridge'' for $600. from the Daniel Gallery.

Proselytizing for Modern Art

Beginning in 1930 and continuing into the 1940s with books, articles, forceful letters to the ''New York Times'' and other activities, Kootz urged artists to sever their dependence on Europe, to drop the search for typically “American” art, and to find original, gutsy forms of expression. His first book, ''Modern American Painters'' (1930) offers critiques of Blume, Demuth, Dickinson,

Arthur Dove Arthur Garfield Dove (August 2, 1880 – November 23, 1946) was an American artist. An early American modernist, he is often considered the first American abstract painter.. Dove used a wide range of media, sometimes in unconventional combinat ...

, Kuniyoshi, Marin,

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 March 6, 1986) was an American Modernism, modernist painter and drafter, draftswoman whose career spanned seven decades and whose work remained largely independent of major art movements. Called the "M ...

Charles Sheeler Charles Sheeler (July 16, 1883 – May 7, 1965) was an American artist known for his Precisionism, Precisionist paintings, commercial photographer, commercial photography, and the 1921 avant-garde film, ''Manhatta'', which he made in collaboratio ...

Maurice Sterne Maurice Sterne (, 1877 or 1878 – July 23, 1957) was an American sculptor and painter remembered today for his association with philanthropist Mabel Dodge Luhan, to whom he was married from 1916 to 1923. Biography Sterne was born in 1877 or ...

, Max Weber, and brief descriptions of seven others, including

Walt Kuhn Walter Francis Kuhn (October 27, 1877 – July 13, 1949) was an American painter and an organizer of the famous Armory Show of 1913, which was America's first large-scale introduction to European Modernism. Biography Kuhn was born in New Yor ...

and Niles Spencer. To publicize that book, Kootz organized his first exhibition "Twenty Modern American Pictures" at Demotte Galleries, 25 E 78 Street, New York, in March 1931. Its brief catalogue, with an introduction by Kootz, shows that the exhibition comprised many, but not all, of the painters in his book. Kootz reached a broader audience in December 1931, when his article in the art section of the ''New York Times'' criticizing chauvinistic attitudes toward American art raised strong reactions and weeks of responses. In the 1930s Kootz showed an interest in modern photography by writing articles about Sheeler and

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (; March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter and curator and a pioneer of fashion photography. His gown images for the magazine ''Art et Décoration'' in 1911 were the first modern ...

(see Kootz bibliography). When he left advertising in 1934 to become a silk converter he commissioned Stuart Davis, Kuniyoshi, and Dove to create fabric designs. Working for his own firm, Samuel M. Kootz Associates, he created photographic designs for fabric during 1935-36. * 25 September 1937, Sam Kootz and Jane Stix Ogden were married at Sheeler's home in Ridgefield Connecticut. * 10 August 1941: As war was raging in Europe, Kootz told ''New York Times'' readers that “the future of painting lies in America.” In a letter so provocative that the Times termed it a “bombshell,” Kootz accused artists of suffering from "rigor mortis" and challenged them to seek new, original means of expression. Readers responded for months. * January 1942 : Kootz organized exhibition of 179 contemporary American paintings" by 72 artists, in Macy’s department store. * 1943: ''New Frontiers in American Painting,'' Kootz's second art book, presents an historical analysis and critique of contemporary American Art, expanding on ideas presented in the "bombshell" letter which it reprints. Kootz encourages artists to be a part of their time and ponders the "ultimate potential" of Abstraction ane Expressionism. Text and illustrations cover work by Byron Browne,

Paul Burlin Paul Burlin (September 10, 1886 – March 13, 1969) was an American modern and abstract expressionist painter. Childhood Paul Burlin was born to Jacob and Julia Berlin in 1886 in New York. The family name was originally Berlinsky. His father was ...

Ralston Crawford Ralston Crawford (1906–1978) was a Canadian-born American painter, lithographer, photographer, and teacher. He is best known for his abstract representations of urban life and industry. He taught at the Cincinnati Art Academy (now Art Academy ...

, Adolph Gottlieb, John Graham, Carl Holty, Bernard Karfiol,

Karl Knaths Karl Knaths (October 21, 1891 – March 9, 1971) was an American artist whose personal approach to the Cubism, Cubist aesthetic led him to create paintings that, while Abstract art, abstract, contained readily identifiable subjects. In addition t ...

Jack Levine Jack Levine (January 3, 1915November 8, 2010) was an American Social Realist painter and printmaker best known for his satires on modern life, political corruption, and biblical narratives. Levine is considered one of the key artists of the Bos ...

, George L.K. Morris, Walter Quirt,

Abraham Rattner Abraham Rattner (July 8, 1895 – February 14, 1978) was an American artist, best known for his richly colored paintings, often with religious subject matter. During World War I, he served in France with the U.S. Army as a camouflage artist. Ear ...

, as well as more established artists, Peter Blume, Stuart Davis, Hartley, Kuniyoshi, Marin, Sheeler, Niles Spencer, and others. * "One Man's Choice," an exhibition organized by Kootz at

Edith Halpert Edith Halpert or Edith Gregor Halpert (née Edith Gregoryevna Fivoosiovitch; 1900–1970) was a pioneering New York City Art dealer, dealer of American modernism, American modern art and American Folk Art, American folk art. She brought recognitio ...

's Downtown Gallery, included 16 painters from ''New Frontiers''. *Because of his growing eminence and expertise, Kootz was elected to the Board of the

Municipal Art Society The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) is a non-profit membership organization for preservation in New York City, which aims to encourage thoughtful planning and urban design and inclusive neighborhoods across the city. The organization was ...

and to the Advisory Board of The

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in 1943. * 1943 & 1944: Publication of two mystery novels based on his knowledge of the New York art world (see bibliography) * December 1945: Kootz's play, ''Home is the Hunter'', presented at the American Negro Theater in Harlem, was mentioned in Eleanor Roosevelt's newspaper column, "My Day".

The Kootz Gallery: 1945-1966

After declaring (in ''New Frontiers'') that "the duty of the gallery and museum" was to give artists "a chance to be seen" Kootz decided to "open a gallery and sponsor exactly what I felt was the future of American painting." To show that his would be "an international gallery interested in quality," Kootz began with an exhibition of Fernand Léger, held in temporary quarters, in April 1945.

15 East 57 Street

* July 1945: The Kootz Gallery formally opened at 15 East 57 Street, representing Baziotes, Bearden, Browne, Gottlieb, Carl Holty, and Motherwell. * 1945-1946 In addition to solo exhibitions by his artists, Kootz showed gouaches by

Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

in fall 1945, and theme exhibitions such as "The Big Top" (March 1946), "Modern American Paintings from the Collection of Mr. & Mrs.

Roy Neuberger Roy Rothschild Neuberger (July 21, 1903 – December 24, 2010) was an American financier who contributed money to raise public awareness of modern art through his acquisition of pieces he deemed worthy. He was a co-founder of the investment firm ...

" (April–May 1946), "Building a Modern Collection" (May–June 1946), and "Homage to Jazz" (Dec. 1946). * December 1946: Kootz flew to Paris, called on Picasso, and convinced the artist to sell him paintings to help support the young painters in his gallery. The ''New York Times'' called his achievement a "brilliant coup." * 27 January 1947: Kootz Gallery opened the first exhibition of Picasso's wartime work in the United States. The exhibition was a sellout; it attracted a large audience and was widely covered by the press. * 1947 Kootz sent work by his gallery artists to "Introduction a la Peinture Moderne Americaine" at

Galerie Maeght The Galerie Maeght () is a gallery of modern art in Paris, France, and Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The gallery was founded in 1936 in Cannes. The Paris gallery was started in 1946 by Aimé Maeght. The artists exhibited are mainly from France an ...

, Paris, with a catalogue statement by

Harold Rosenberg Harold Rosenberg (February 2, 1906 – July 11, 1978) was an American writer, educator, philosopher and art critic. He coined the term Action Painting in 1952 for what was later to be known as abstract expressionism. Rosenberg is best known for h ...

* Fall 1947 Hans Hofmann joins gallery, first exhibition at Kootz: Nov.-Dec. 1947 * September 1947 "Women" exhibition featuring paintings by Picasso, Braque and gallery artists followed by "Women: A Collaboration of Artists and Writers," a catalogue designed by

Paul Rand Paul Rand (born Peretz Rosenbaum; August 15, 1914 – November 26, 1996) was an American art director and graphic designer. He was best known for his corporate logo designs, including the logos for IBM, United Parcel Service, UPS, Enron, Morni ...

, with original essays by

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His '' Spring and All'' (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's '' The Waste Land'' (1922). ...

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

, and others. * January–February 1948, Picasso exhibition * September 1949 "The Intrasubjectives" Exhibition, featuring works by William Baziotes, Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, Adolph Gottlieb, Morris Graves, Hans Hofmann, Robert Burns Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Mark Tobey, and B. W. Tomlin, with a "catalogue" designed by Baziotes, Gottlieb and Hofmann.

Dealing Privately

In 1948 Kootz closed the gallery to deal privately as Picasso's "world agent" from an apartment at 470 Park Avenue. When that situation proved uncongenial and unsatisfactory he resumed operating a public gallery.

600 Madison Avenue

In 1949 Kootz reopened the gallery at 600 Madison Avenue. Highlights of this era include: * September–October 1949: The Intrasubjectives, exhibition and catalogue, for which Kootz chose artists he considered "the leaders of the movement" now known as Abstract Expressionism—artists who were trying to show their "personal reactions to paint, to new forms, to ideas that had no relation to reality." It included work by

Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning ( , ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. Born in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, he moved to the United States in 1926, becoming a US citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married pa ...

, Gorky,

Morris Graves Morris Cole Graves (August 28, 1910 – May 5, 2001) was an American painter. He was one of the earliest Modern artists from the Pacific Northwest to achieve national and international acclaim. His style, referred to by some reviewers as Mysti ...

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...

Ad Reinhardt Adolph Friedrich Reinhardt (December 24, 1913 – August 30, 1967) was an American abstract painter and art theorist active in New York City for more than three decades. As a theorist he wrote and lectured extensively on art and was a ...

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract art, abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular reg ...

Mark Tobey Mark George Tobey (December 11, 1890 – April 24, 1976) was an American painter. His densely structured compositions, inspired by Asian calligraphy, resemble Abstract expressionism, although the motives for his compositions differ philosop ...

and Bradley Walker Tomlin, in addition to the Gallery's artists. * February–March 1950: "Black on White Paintings by European and American Artists" included DeKooning, Dubuffet, Picasso, Tobey, Tomlin and gallery artists * March–April 1950: "Selected Paintings by the late Arshile Gorky" * April–May 1950: "Talent 1950," an exhibition of unrecognized upcoming artists selected by Clement Greenberg and the scholar/critic

Meyer Schapiro Meyer Schapiro (23 September 1904 – 3 March 1996) was a Lithuanian-born American art historian who developed new art historical methodologies that incorporated an interdisciplinary approach to the study of works. An expert on early Christian, ...

, included

Elaine de Kooning Elaine Marie Catherine de Kooning ( , ; ; March 12, 1918 – February 1, 1989) was an Abstract Expressionist and Figurative Expressionist painter in the post-World War II era. She wrote extensively on the art of the period and was an editorial ...

Franz Kline Franz Kline (May 23, 1910 – May 13, 1962) was an American painter. He is associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1940s and 1950s. Kline, along with other action painters like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Mo ...

Larry Rivers Larry Rivers (born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg; August 17, 1923 – August 14, 2002) was an American painter, musician, filmmaker, and occasional actor. Considered by many scholars to be the "Godfather" and "Grandfather" of Pop art, he was on ...

, and

Esteban Vicente Esteban Vicente Pérez (January 20, 1903 – January 10, 2001) was a Spanish American painter born in Turégano, Spain. He was one of the first generation of New York School abstract expressionists. He identified as an antifascist. Early life E ...

. It has been called a "signal event" of the era. * October 1950: "The Muralist and the Modern Architect"

Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981) was a Hungarian-American modernist architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United States in 1937 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944. At the Bauhaus he designed the Was ...

and

. * October 1951: "Art for a Synagogue" * March–April 1954 Mathieu and Soulages joined the Gallery roster * mid 1950s Gottlieb and Motherwell left gallery because of Kootz's growing interest in European artists. * March–April 1956 "Paintings and Sculpture by Picasso" featured works from 1932–1949

1018 Madison Avenue

Following a "real upsurge of buying American painting" that had begun in the fall of 1955, the gallery moved to larger quarters at 1018 Madison Avenue in September 1956. The Gallery's opening exhibitions featured

and Hans Hofmann, as well as "Art for Two Synagogues" with sculptures by Ferber & Lassaw. * 1958: "Picasso--5 Masterworks" * Between 1956 and 1959 Kootz held one man exhibitions by gallery artists including Ferber, Hare, Philippe Hosiasson, Lassaw, Marca-Relli, Mathieu, Ronald,

Gérard Schneider Gérard ( French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constitu ...

, Soulages, Sugai and

Zao Wou-Ki Zao Wou-Ki (; 1 February 1920 – 9 April 2013) was a Chinese-French Painting, painter. He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Zao Wou-Ki graduated from the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, where he studied under French-tra ...

655 Madison Avenue

As artists painted increasingly large paintings Kootz had felt cramped at 1018 Madison Avenue. * October 1959 the gallery moved to a much larger space on the second floor of 655 Madison Avenue. * Starting with the opening exhibition of paintings by Ronald, the gallery held one-man exhibitions of gallery artists, with the exception of "16 Artists --American and European," in May–June 1960 * April–May 1962: the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, held the exhibition, "Artists of the Kootz Gallery." The event included a talk by Kootz concerning "The Inception of Abstract Expressionism--A Dealer's Point of View" * Fall 1963: Museum of Modern Art holds major Hans Hofmann retrospective * October 1965: In a poster announcing "Picasso, 14 paintings," Kootz wrote that the paintings showed "a continuity of Picasso's generosity in permitting Sam Kootz to make personal sections since 1946." * In about 1964, Kootz had "almost lost interest in the gallery business" because he felt he had accomplished what he had set out to do in making Abstract Expressionism a success, and the challenge was gone. Kootz fulfilled his promise to Hans Hofmann to keep the gallery open until that artist's death, which occurred on 17 February 1966.Les Levine, "The Spring of '55: A Portrait of Sam Kootz. ''Arts Magazine'', April 1974, 34-35." The Kootz Gallery closed on 9 April 1966, at the conclusion of Parker's exhibition.

Retirement

* In retirement Kootz enjoyed looking at paintings and purchasing some. He had written a memoir, "Reflections of an Art Dealer" which was slated for publication by Random House. However, in spring 1968 he decided not to release it, saying "I think I'll just sit on it for a year or two." (The memoir was never published.) * Jane Kootz died on 15 March 1970 * In 1972 Kootz married Dr. Joyce Lowinson, a psychiatrist with specialties in drug addiction and pain management."Former Drug Addicts Find Personal Growth in Gardens," ''New York Times'', 15 Aug 1977.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1977/08/15/97004308.pdf. Accessed 16 Nov 2012. * 7 August 1982: Kootz died from cancer

References

Publications by Samuel M. Kootz

Books

*''Modern American Painters''. New York: Brewer & Warren Inc., 1930 . *''New Frontiers in American Painting.'' New York: Architectural Book Publishing Co., Inc., Distributed by Hastings House Publishers, 1943. *''Puzzle in Paint''. New York: Crown Publishers, 1943. *''Puzzle in Petticoats''. New York: Crown Publishers, 1944.

Play

*''Home is the Hunter, a play in three acts.'' 1945.

Selected articles

* “Ford Plant photos of Charles Sheeler,” ''Creative Art'' 8, April 1931, 264-267. * "Preston Dickinson,''Creative Art'', May 1931 * Edward Steichen ''Creative Art'' 10 May 1932

Bibliography

* Ashton, Dore. ''The New York School: A Cultural Reckoning''. New York and London: Penguin Books, 1979. . * Divay, Gaby, ed. The 1949 "Intrasubjectives Exhibition" Catalogue, designed by William Baziotes, Adolph Gottlieb, and Hans Hofmann, with texts by Harold Rosenberg & Samuel M. Kootz
e-Edition
Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Archives, 2009. * Gilot, Francoise and Carlton Lake, ''Life with Picasso'', with an introduction by Tim Hilton. London: Virago Press, 1990. . * Guilbaut, Serge. ''How New York Stole the Idea of Modern Art: Abstract Expressionism, Freedom, and the Cold War''. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1983. (ppbk). * Goldstein,Malcolm. ''Landscape with Figures: A History of Art Dealing in the United States''. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. . * Greenberg, Clement. "Samuel Kootz, Art Dealer," in ''Ringling Museum of Art Bulletin'' (I,4), April 1962, n.p. * Lee Hall, ''Betty Parsons: Artist, dealer, collector''. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1991. . * Mattison, Robert Saltonstall. ''Robert Motherwell: The Formative Years''. Ann Arbor and London: UMI Research Press, 1987. (pbk.). * Perl,Jed. ''New Art City'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. (hc). * Robson, A. Deirdre. ''Prestige, Profit, and Pleasure: The Market for Modern Art in New York in the 1940s and 1950s''. New York & London,: Garland Publishing, 1995. . * Sandler, Irving. ''The Triumph of American Painting: A History of Abstract Expressionism''. New York, Hagerstown, San Francisco, London: Harper & Row, 1988. .

External links

* Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution: Kootz Gallery records, 1923-196

This is the source for any information not specifically annotated above. * Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution: Oral History Interview M. with Samuel M. Kootz conducted by John Morse, 2 March 196

* Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution: Oral History Interview with Samuel M. Kootz conducted by Dorothy Seckler, 13 April 196

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kootz, Samuel American art dealers People from Portsmouth, Virginia People from New York City University of Virginia alumni 1898 births 1982 deaths