Seymour Boardman (1921–2005) was a New York

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 ...

. Since his first solo exhibition in Paris in 1951, Boardman developed a personal vision and style of his own, following his own path of abstraction. As a painter he sought to reduce the image to its bare essence.

Career

Boardman was an artist who expressed his direct experience and willingness to take risks in the pursuit of ambitious painting. Initially working in the freely brushed manner of Abstract Expressionism, Boardman gradually eliminated the arbitrary aspects of his work until only straight lines and two or three areas of flat, sometimes somber, tones remained. He could hardly have achieved more with less. In a career that was steady and determined, Boardman created paintings that are unique, while avoiding fashion and trends. His work stands alone because it derives from the Romantic landscape previously articulated by

Avery Avery may refer to: Business * Avery Company, a former tractor manufacturer and later produced trucks and automobiles * Avery Weigh-Tronix, a British manufacturer of industrial weighing systems * Avery Berkel, a British manufacturer of retail ...

and early Rothko (who was a friend) and later developed into almost hard-edged painting. Seymour Boardman’s paintings are objects for contemplation. This memorial exhibition exposes several decades of Boardman’s oeuvre. An implicit grid has served as an understructure of his paintings throughout the years except for a period in the 60s when he used few intense colors on raw cotton with hand drawn perfect lines that sometimes formed a

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed '' polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two t ...

. This gave him another attack element, an underlying structure of interest to support and give point to his sensuous and precisely weighted color. He did a body of black and white in the early 70s – using only black

acrylic Acrylic may refer to: Chemicals and materials * Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound * Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity * Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosett ...

on a white

gesso Gesso (; "chalk", from the la, gypsum, from el, γύψος) is a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these. It is used in painting as a preparation for any number of substrates suc ...

ground – a compositional motive emerged as be reduced a complicated image to its essence. The painted areas became the

negative space Negative space, in art, is the empty space around and between the subject(s) of an image. Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, not the subject itself, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape, and s ...

while the original white ground became bold jagged lines piercing the blackness award for one of these paintings. Boardman’s canvas remains flat because of its right-angled edges, but the color planes often seem to bend and twist in space. The slight roughness of the lines, softening the plane edges without lessening the impact of the image, saves the painting from mechanical precision. Strangely, disturbing canvases result from his explorations of mental expectation, and they are no less profound because they are quiet and beautiful. Boardman’s spontaneous works on paper exhibit energetic vigor in attacking the surface with a concentration on strong and overlapping

oil stick Oil sticks or oil bars are an art medium. Oil sticks are oil paint in a stick form similar to that of a crayon or pastel. Oil sticks are made by blending the oil and pigment with wax and pouring it into molds to form an oil stick. It is distinguish ...

marks, maximizing his sense of palpable shallow space. In the 70’s and 80’s paintings were large with rectangular forms and working to the edge of the canvas. The ’90s were mostly oil stick colorful, playful, expressionistic works.

Biography

Boardman majored in art at

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

in 1938–1942. He served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

from 1942 to 1946, during which he was hospitalized for over a year due to a wound to his left shoulder, which resulted in partial

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...

of the arm and hand.Timothy Anglin Burgard, Bruce Guenther, Walter Hopps, et al.(2003)''Frank Lobdell: The Art of Making and Meaning'', Manchester, VT: Hudson Hills Press. After a full medical discharge from the service in 1946, he left for Paris to continue his art education at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the Académ ...

, and Atelier

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

. Boardman's work became more abstract but still based on figure and landscape. He returned to New York in 1949 and went to the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stud ...

. Boardman continued to paint dark, moody paintings using a limited palette of black, white, grey, and an occasional additional color. Departed Le Havre France on the Liberte, arriving with his wife in New York on Jan. 22, 1952. In 1955, he had his first one-man show in New York at the

Martha Jackson Gallery Martha Jackson (; January 17, 1907 – July 4, 1969) was an American art dealer, gallery owner, and collector. Her New York City based Martha Jackson Gallery, founded in 1953, was groundbreaking in its representation of women and internati ...

. It was favorably reviewed by

Hilton Kramer Hilton Kramer (March 25, 1928 – March 27, 2012) was an American art critic and essayist. Biography Early life Kramer was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and was educated at Syracuse University, receiving a bachelor's degree in English; Col ...

Emily Genauer Emily Genauer (July 19, 1911 – August 23, 2002) was an American art critic for the ''New York World'', the ''New York Herald Tribune'', and ''Newsday''. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1974. Biography She was born on Staten Island in ...

Fairfield Porter Fairfield Porter (June 10, 1907 – September 18, 1975) was an American painter and art critic. He was the fourth of five children of James Porter, an architect, and Ruth Furness Porter, a poet from a literary family. He was the brother of photo ...

, and others. "…inscrutable, dark, mostly in blacks stained here and there with calm whitish shapes, they yet manage to suggest something inhuman and romantic…" (N.Y.Times, March 26, 1955). He began to acquire recognition in the 1950s with his paintings of griddled facets seen as if through a frosted glass, without any crisp lines, and in bright colors favoring reds. Boardman's friends included Lawrence Calcagno, Perez Celis,

John Hultberg John Hultberg (February 8, 1922 – April 15, 2005) was an American Abstract expressionist and Abstract realist painter. Early in his career he was related to the Bay Area Figurative Movement; he was also a lecturer and playwright. Early life a ...

, Burt Hasen, Frank Lobdell, Richards Ruben,

Robert Ryman Robert Ryman (May 30, 1930February 8, 2019) was an American painter identified with the movements of monochrome painting, minimalism, and conceptual art. He was best known for abstract, white-on-white paintings. He lived and worked in New York ...

and Nassos Daphnis. Throughout the 1960s, Boardman showed at both the Stephen Radich Gallery and the A.M. Sachs Gallery; in 1967, The

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

and the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

acquired a painting each. In the early 1970s Boardman had a large exhibition of paintings at the

Andrew Dickson White Andrew Dickson White (November 7, 1832 – November 4, 1918) was an American historian and educator who cofounded Cornell University and served as its first president for nearly two decades. He was known for expanding the scope of college curric ...

Museum of Art, (currently

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art ("The Johnson Museum") is an art museum located on the northwest corner of the Arts Quad on the main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its collection includes two windows from Frank Lloyd Wr ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

, Albany, NY. Thomas Levitt, the Director, wrote in the catalogue, "…Seymour Boardman has gradually eliminated the arbitrary aspects of his work until only straight lines and two or three areas of flat, usually somber, tones remain…" This accurately describes the paintings of that period. He continued to work that way during the 1970s. Since the mid-1980s, Boardman has exhibited his work at the

Anita Shapolsky Gallery The Anita Shapolsky Gallery is an art gallery that was founded in 1982 by Anita Shapolsky. It is currently located at 152 East 65th Street, on Manhattan's Upper East Side, in New York City. The gallery specializes in 1950s and 1960s abstract e ...

in several one-person and group shows. The paintings have changed, no longer using acrylic, and returning to oil paint and a more painterly surface. In 1992, Boardman had an important one-person show at the Anderson Gallery in Buffalo, N.Y., and in 1999, a two-person show at the Shapolsky Gallery with the late Richards Ruben. Seymour Boardman died on October 3, 2005 at the age of 84. Interest in his work continues to grow, and in 2010 Anita Shapolsky Gallery presented the exhibition ''Modern Sensibilities: Ernest Briggs & Seymour Boardman.''

Selected Collections

Seymour Boardman is represented in many private and public collections, including the Whitney Museum,

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

Newark Museum The Newark Museum of Art (formerly known as the Newark Museum), in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, A ...

, Herbert Johnson Museum of Art of Cornell University,

Museo Rufino Tamayo Museo Rufino Tamayo is a public contemporary art museum located in Mexico City's Chapultepec Park, that produces contemporary art exhibitions, using its collection of modern and contemporary art, as well as artworks from the collection of its ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

;

Rose Art Museum The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from the permanent col ...

Brandeis University Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...

; Gallery Beyeler, Switzerland;

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

, NY; Santa Barbara Museum of Art,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

;

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, to ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

, MN; Stichting Yellow Fellow Museum,

Woudrichem Woudrichem (; Brabantian: ''Woerkum'') is a city and former municipality in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. History The city of Woudrichem was granted city rights in 1356. Geography The municipality is located at in th ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, etc.

Awards

He was recipient of

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expression ...

Award,

Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation was established in 1976. It is an American nonprofit organization that provides funding for the arts. History The Gottlieb Foundation was established after Adolph Gottlieb’s death in 1974. Esther Gottlie ...

Award, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Award.

Solo exhibitions

*Anita Shapolsky Gallery, NYC, 2010, 2005, 1999, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1989, 1988, 1987 *De Toren van de Martinuskerk, Woudrichem, the Netherlands, 2004 *Anderson Gallery Buffalo, NY, 1994,1993 *Aaron Berman Gallery, NYC, 1978 *Dorsky Gallery, NYC, 1974, 1972 *Andrew Dickson White Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1971 *A.M. Sachs Gallery, NYC, 1968, 1967, 1966 *Esther Robles Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 1965 *Stephen Radish Gallery, NY, 1962, 1961, 1960 *Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 1959 *Martha Jackson Gallery, NY, 1955–60 *Galerie Mai, Paris, France, 1951

References

External links

* http://www.anitashapolskygallery.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Boardman, Seymour Abstract expressionist artists Artists from New York (state) 1921 births 2005 deaths Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière American expatriates in France