(Click to Enlarge)
Oil on Board
8 1/8 x 6 1/4 inches
14 x 11 1/2 inches framed behind glass
Very Good condition
Signed Botkin lower left
Signed Celebration Botkin 1940 by artist en verso on board
Signed Celebration 1940 (provenance) Carl Ashby on cardboard frame backing
Last origin Jacksonville FL
Henry Botkin (1896 – 1983)
NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARY; HENRY BOTKIN DIES; ABSTRACT PAINTER
By MICHAEL BRENSON
Published: March 5, 1983
Henry Botkin, an abstract painter known for his collage-paintings, his promotion of abstract art and his artistic influence on his cousin, the composer George Gershwin, died yesterday in New York City of heart disease. He was 86 years old.
Mr. Botkin began painting in a lyrical mode that depended upon an expressive use of color. Later in his career, in the 1950’s, he sought a greater sense of surprise and structure, and found in collage a way of strengthening what was suggested by his lyrical and always somewhat naturalistic use of color.
Mr. Botkin was born in Boston and received his formal art training in Boston and New York. In 1926 he went to Paris, which remained his base for seven years.
During frequent trips back to the United States, Mr. Botkin encouraged George Gershwin to take up painting. He also served as his cousin’s informal painting instructor and as an adviser for his art collecting. Painted ‘Porgy and Bess’
In 1934, the cousins went together to Folly Island, S.C., where Mr. Gershwin composed ”Porgy and Bess” and Mr. Botkin painted visual counterparts for the opera. Mr. Botkin’s paintings were exhibited after the opera was performed; one was bought by the Metropolitan Museum.
Mr. Botkin had more than 40 one-man shows. Over the years, he was president of several organizations, including American Abstract Artists.
His work is in the permanent collections of more than 40 museums, including the Metropolitan, the Museum of Modern Art, the Phillips Collection in Washington, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.