For LORSER FEITELSON 'the line' was paramount.
With roots in the Renaissance and Robust fullness of form, Feitelson's line evolved in Europe 1919-1926 through the adventurous 'isms': Cubism, Futurism and Neoclassicism. Two Figures: Kinetic Organization (1919-1920 ) reveals the captured elements of movement and tension through parallel lines and multiple imagery. Later in the 1920s, neoclassical compositions dominated, as we see in Two Peasant Women (1925). His subsequent exodus from New York to Los Angeles in 1927 heralded his confident exploration of new aesthetic vocabulary.
In 1934, with his then-pupil, Helen Lundeberg, he proclaimed "Subjective Classicism/Post-Surrealism" as an American movement and a rejection of European Surrealism. Again, 'the line'--the confident, conscious line--was the essence of his imagery. Rich and evocative elements dominated the analytical and, often, sensuous paintings he executed. They contrasted with the educational and historical narratives he was producing simultaneously in murals for the Federal Arts Project.
Feitelson's focus upon the human figure enriched his work into the early 1940s when these forms began to change, to simplify, to evolve, to be abstracted until they reemerged as Magical Forms in 1944. Strange, challenging and rhythmic, these non-referential forms appeared through a palette of strong colors within undefined and ambiquous space, bounded only by the edges of the canvas.
Underlying all was 'the line'.
This exhibition of 'The Romantic Years, 1919-1949' spans thirty years, only half of his creative period. The Magical Forms are a unique expression; they are also a bridge.. . .the link to Feitelson's Magical Space Forms and Hard Edge.
--Tobey Moss
For the 1996 exhibition The Romantic Years, 1919-1949
| 1898 | Born, Savannah, Georgia |
| 1913 | Armory Show influenced decision for art as career |
| 1919-26 | Shuttled between New York and Paris studios, Corsica |
| 1924 | The Daniel Gallery, New York |
| 1927 | Moved to Los Angeles |
| 1928 | 'Lorser Feitelson', California Palace Legion of Honor, San Francisco |
| 1929 | 'Lorser Feitelson', Los Angeles County MuseumTaught at Chouinard Art Institute |
| 1930-33 | Taught at Stickney Memorial Art School, Pasadena; Met student Helen Lundeberg |
| 1934 | With Helen Lundeberg, founded Subjective Classicism / Post-Surrealism |
| 1935 | 'Fifty-Fifth Annual Exhibition of The San Francisco Art Association', San Francisco Museum of Art
Opened his Gallery of Modern Art, Hollywood |
| 1936 | 'Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism', The Museum of Modern Art, New York |
| 1937-41 | Supervisor of Murals, Paintings and Sculpture for Southern California FAP/WPA |
| 1944-78 | Taught at Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles /Pasadena |
| 1948 | Began 'Magical Space Forms' |
| 1951 | Carnegie Visiting Professor at University of Illionois |
| 1955 | 'III Bienal de Sao Paulo', Museu de Arte Moderna de Sao Paulo, Brazil |
| 1956 | Began 'Dichotomic Organization' paintings |
| 1956-63 | 'Feitelson on Art', N.B.C. television series |
| 1958 | 'Art of Southern California II: Painting', Long Beach Museum of Art |
| 1959 | 'Four Abstract Classicists', Los Angeles County Museum |
| 1961 | Began 'Boulder' series of Magical Space Forms |
| 1962 | 'Geometric Abstraction in America', Whitney Museum of American Art, New York |
| 1963 | Began 'Line' paintings / Magical Space Forms |
| 1963 | 'Arts of Southern California XIV: Early Moderns', Long Beach Museum of Art |
| 1977 | 'California: 5 Footnotes to Modern Art History', Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
| 1978 | Died, Los Angeles |
| 1978 | 'Lorser Feitelson, A Memorial Tribute', Whitney Museum of American Art |
| 1978 | 'The Frederick Weisman Collection of California Art', California State University, Long Beach; The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Albuquerque Museum of Art |
| 1980-81 | 'Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg: A Retrospective Exhibition', San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; University of California, Los Angeles, Wight Art Gallery |
| 1984 | "The Frederick Weisman Collection', Museum of Contemporary Art / The Temporary Contemporary, Los Angeles |
| 1985 | 'Colorforms', Security Pacific Gallery, Los Angeles |
| 1990-92 | 'Turning the Tide: Early Los Angeles Modernists 1920-1956', Laguna Art Museum; Oakland Museum; Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio; Nora Eccles Harrison Art Museum, Utah State University, Logan; Santa Barbara Museum of Art; Palm Springs Desert Museum |
| 1992 | 'California Painting: The Essential Modernist Framework', CSU, Los Angeles; CSU, San Bernardino |
| 1994 | 'Independent Visions: California Modernism', Long Beach Museum of Art |
| 1995 | 'Pacific Dreams' UCLA/Hammer Museum of Art, Los Angeles |