Untitled

Michael GOLDBERG (Am.1924 - 2007)

Untitled

oil on paper
12 1/4 x 9 1/4 in. (31.1 x 23.5 cm)
framed: 17 7/8 x 14 3/4 inches
signed: ‘ goldberg’ (lower right)

Executed in 1956-1957

Provenance:
Private collection

Michael Goldberg, born on December 24, 1924, in the Bronx, New York, was a prominent second-generation Abstract Expressionist painter associated with the New York School. From an early age, Goldberg displayed a passion for art, attending Saturday classes at the Art Students League in Manhattan from age fourteen. His formal studies deepened under the guidance of Hans Hofmann, though they were interrupted by his service in the Army during World War II, where he served in the Pacific Theatre. After the war, Goldberg resumed his studies with Hofmann and at the Art Students League, fully committing to the abstract expressionist style influenced by painters such as Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, and Clyfford Still.

In the early 1950s, Goldberg was an active participant in New York City’s vibrant art scene. Frequenting the Cedar Tavern, he formed friendships with many of the key figures of the New York School, including de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, and poet-critic Frank O’Hara, who would later dedicate several poems to him. Goldberg’s first public exhibition came in 1951 at the seminal Ninth Street Show, organized by Leo Castelli, where he exhibited alongside iconic artists like Jackson Pollock and Helen Frankenthaler.

Goldberg’s career took off after a successful solo exhibition at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery in 1953. A turning point in his career came when the collector Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. purchased several of his works for $10,000, leading to representation by Martha Jackson Gallery and greater acclaim. Known for his expressive brushwork, his work was often inspired by his deep love of jazz, an influence reflected in the rhythmic, free-associative nature of his compositions.

Throughout his career, Goldberg evolved his use of color and form, incorporating metallic paints and collage elements, which lent his work a distinctive architectural quality. Despite this evolution, he remained dedicated to the core tenets of Abstract Expressionism, emphasizing in a 2001 interview that abstract painting continued to be “the primary visual challenge of our time.”

Goldberg was not only a respected painter but also a revered teacher. He and his wife, artist Lynn Umlauf, taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Later in life, the couple began splitting their time between New York and Tuscany. His works are held in prestigious collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum, and many others. In 2013–2014, Goldberg was the subject of a major retrospective, Abstraction over Time, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, Florida.