Recent Acquisitions at Surovek Gallery

We are pleased to announce our recent acquisitions of works by some of America’s finest artists, representing a wide range of styles and techniques.

The earliest work among the recent acquisitions is Pond Lillies, painted by Abbott Fuller Graves (1859-1936) in 1912. Graves was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts and studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He didn’t complete his studies at MIT, but went, instead, to Europe to study painting in Paris and Italy. 

Graves eventually settled in Kennebunk, Maine. The influence of European Impressionists is apparent in his plein air paintings and floral still lifes, Graves taught painting at the art school that he opened in Kennebunk and helped to promote Impressionism in the U.S.

 Two new works by Thomas Hart Benton were made more than thirty years apart. Drawing by a Pond (Martha’s Vineyard), oil on canvas, was done in 1922. Wyoming Mountain Landscape is a brilliant watercolor, done in 1953. Each work is evidence of Benton’s mastery of color and medium.

 Like all of his work, Milton Avery’s (1885-1965) Florida Lake, 1953 is a serene composition that draws the viewer into the scene. Avery’s use of color and form had a profound influence on the young mid-century artists, like Mark Rothko, who often visited his home and studio.

Sam Francis (1923-1994) was an American artist who worked and exhibited in the United States, Europe and Asia. He was influenced by the French abstract painters of the 1940s and 1950s and by the art he saw in Tokyo. He was a painter and printmaker. The Untitled work, done in 1970, is a fine example of the way Francis used color and composition. unlike any other American artist of his time. Francis’ works can be found in museums around the globe, including The Met, MoMA, the Centre Pompidou-Musee National d'Art Moderne in Paris, the Idemitsu Museum of Arts in Tokyo and many other international museums and galleries. 

 
Orville Bulman (1904-1978) was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He always loved to paint but spent much of his life working in the family’s manufacturing company. He eventually moved to Palm Beach and opened an art gallery on Worth Avenue. His fascination with life in Haiti became the focus of his paintings. One of Bulman's biggest fan was the actor, Raymond Burr, who had an art gallery on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and included Bulman's works in his gallery. Papa?, created in 1977 is a recent acquisition.

Kenneth Noland (1924-2010) was one of America’s most well-known color field painters. Noland served in the Air Force during World War ll and, through the G.I. Bill, he studied art at Black Mountain College in his home state of North Carolina. His first exhibit was not in the U.S., but in Paris in 1949. He stained his canvas, rather than apply it with a brush to eliminate any sign of the artist’s hand. The 1985 Untitled work, available at Surovek Gallery, is done in acrylic, in the asymmetrical chevron pattern that Noland often used. 

Mel Bochner (1940 - present) still uses his words in artworks that speak to his audience. Head Honcho, 2013, uses not only his words, but texture, as well. In 2011, a retrospective of Bochner's work was held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Bochner lives and works in New York.

Please contact us if you would like more information about the recent acquisitions at Surovek Gallery.