NOW at the Opalka
Tranquil Power: The Art of Perle Fine
Unequivocably Blue, 1967, acrylic on plywood, mounted to Masonite,
Copyright © Perle Fine, courtesy of Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art,
Cornell University.
January 17 – February 26, 2012,
Reception with the curator; Friday, February 3, 5-9pm
Curated by Susan W. Knowles
Organized by the Hofstra University Museum and Perle Fine Retrospective, Inc.
Abstract expressionist painter Perle Fine remained faithful, throughout a long and prolific career, to her own tenets of the movement. Active in the modern art scene from the 1930’s until the year of her passing in 1988, Fine's creativity explored and reworked several abstract styles and ideas, but always emphasized her ability to produce a certain harmony on canvas. Her work accentuated the beauty of rhythmic variations and the subtle nuances of color, line, shape and space.
Perle Fine was born in Boston, MA, in 1908. Her interest in art started at early age. In her early twenties she moved to New York City to study at the Art Students League. In the late 1930s she began to study with Hans Hofmann in New York City as well as in Provincetown, MA. In the early 1940s she joined the American Abstract Artists. In 1950 she was nominated by Willem de Kooning and then admitted to the 8th Street “Artists’ Club”, located at 39 East 8th Street.
Perle Fine was chosen by her fellow artists to show in the Ninth Street Show held on May 21-June 10, 1951. Perle Fine participated from 1951 to 1957 in the invitational New York Painting and Sculpture Annuals. She was among the 24 out of a total 256 New York School artists who was included in all the Annuals. These Annuals were important because the participants were chosen by the artists themselves.
In the 1950s Fine moved to the Springs, section of East Hampton on the eastern end of Long Island where Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner. Willem de Kooning, Conrad Marca-Relli and other members of the New York School found permanent residence. Perle Fine died of pneumonia on May 31, 1988, at the age of 83 in East Hampton, New York.
Tranquil Power: The Art of Perle Fine contains paintings, prints, drawings, and wood assemblages dating from the 1930s to the 1970s. A selection of historical photographs of the period, depicting Fine and others in her various artistic circles, which were taken by professional photographer Maurice Berezov (her husband) are also shown. Coinciding with the exhibition tour is the publication of the first monograph on Fine, with scholarly text by Kathleen Housley, Trinity College, New Haven (Midmarch Arts Press, 2005) The exhibition coordination is by Independent Curator, Susan W. Knowles.
Tranquil Power: The Art of Perle Fine was organized by Perle Fine Retrospective, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee, and the Hofstra University Museum, Hempstead, New York, with assistance by Susan W. Knowles, Curator. The Exhibition has received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts, the Judith Rothschild Foundation, the Renate, Hans and Maria Hofmann Trust, and the Kanter Family Foundation.
Gallery guide for exhibit (pdf)
Special Presentation:
Much Ado about Much Ado: Exploring Shakespeare's Play and its Characters:
Friday, February 3, 7pm
A lecture and discussion titled "Much Ado about Much Ado: Exploring Shakespeare's Play and its Characters" by Dr. David Salomon, associate professor of English, joined by director David Baecker and members of the Much Ado About Nothing cast.
Gallery Hours:
Monday-Friday 10-8, Sundays Noon-4
and by appointment
Closed December 12, 2011 - January 17, 2012
