Adolph Gottlieb

1903–1974

By the late 1930s, Adolph Gottlieb believed that neither American Realism nor European Modernism could adequately address the political and social crises unfolding worldwide. For Gottlieb, who had trained as a Realist painter, such precarious conditions demanded a new art that was universal, open to interpretation, and made up of subject matter that was “tragic and timeless.” In developing this new pictorial language, Gottlieb turned to sources as diverse as classical mythology, psychoanalytic theory, and Native American, African, and Oceanic artifacts (which he collected and saw in museums in the United States and abroad).

The Pictographs (1941–52), a series of oil paintings, gouache drawings, and prints, borrow loosely from a wide cultural terrain that Gottlieb characterized as “primitive and archaic.” In each work a gridded, planar ground is inscribed with an array of fragmented graphic symbols that evoke their varied origins while eschewing specific cultural reference. The series suggests mythic and emotional content without recourse to illusionism, and in this regard anticipates much Abstract Expressionist painting to come.

Vigil, from the Pictographs, employs a chaotic mix of eyes, zigzags, squiggles, and masklike faces that jostle within rectangular compartments on a black ground. As with many of the Pictographs, the thick layers of paint and roughly sketched lines conjure the prehistoric wall drawings from which the series takes its name. Though some of the forms here resemble designs made by the Northwest Coast Indians, the overall impression is eclectic and cannot be interpreted according to a single cultural system. Gottlieb arranged and selected his pictographs according to free association, and hoped that they would evoke a sense of “ambiguity and mystery.”

Wikipedia entry

Introduction

Adolph Gottlieb (March 14, 1903 – March 4, 1974) was an American abstract expressionist painter who also made sculpture and became a print maker.

Wikidata identifier

Q365388

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Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License . Accessed May 26, 2025.

Getty record

Country of birth

United States

Roles

Artist, graphic artist, painter, sculptor

ULAN identifier

500004904

Names

Adolph Gottlieb, Adolf Gottlieb, Adolf Goṭlib, גוטליבת אדולף

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Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed May 26, 2025.

Not on view

First acquired
1949

Date of birth
March 14, 1903

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