Lot 86
**First Time At Auction**
Beth Ames Swartz (American, b. 1936). "Marine Gesture #2" mixed media with acrylic on paper, 1984. Signature, date, and title handwritten in red pencil below. A captivating abstract mixed media composition by Beth Ames Swartz, an artist who was born in New York City but found true inspiration in the southwest landscape of Arizona. The title "Marine Gesture #2" suggests an aquatic theme which Swartz captured with colorful whirlpools as well as bubble-like motifs. Superimposed over this are stylized gestural marks or symbols delineated in red as well as gold glitter and also scratched with the back of a paint brush. Swartz oftentimes includes words and symbols from various philosophies and religions "thereby facilitating communication with viewers on both conscious and unconscious levels" (artist's statement). A magnificent work by an artist whose signature touch enchants the viewer with sensuous surfaces that seem to shimmer and dazzle with what Carol Donnel-Kotrozco described as "a mystical Byzantine richness" in Artforum Magazine. Size (image): 18.4" L x 14.25" W (46.7 cm x 36.2 cm) Size (sheet): 22.5" L x 18.5" W (57.2 cm x 47 cm) Size (frame): 28.25" L x 24.25" W (71.8 cm x 61.6 cm)
About the artist: "Swartz grew up in Manhattan and by her mid-teens was studying at the New York Arts Students League; subsequently graduating from the High School of Music & Art, Cornell University (1957) and receiving a Masters of Arts degree from New York University (1959). Swartz moved to Arizona in 1959. Initially, she felt out of place there, where desert rocks, prickly vegetation and open spaces contrasted with the lush greenery from the more familiar settings of her youth. By 1970, she viscerally bonded with the Western environment after rafting trips down the Colorado River.
Beginning in the late 1970's, Swartz developed a process/ritual producing her 'fire work'art whose creative evolution benefited from the destructive forces of fire and purposeful mutilation that achieved aesthetic transformation.
Swartz enjoys recognition that includes over eighty one-person gallery exhibitions, four traveling museum exhibitions originating at The Jewish Museum, NY (1981-83); Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary (1985-91); a retrospective beginning at Phoenix Art Museum (2002-03) and Arizona State University (2008-11). Three books, eight catalogs, reviews in ARTnews, Art in America, and Artforum plus many articles and videos document her accomplishments. PBS stations are airing (2017-24) a 29-minute documentary on her life and art titled Beth Ames Swartz/Reminders of Invisible Light. Swartz received the Arizona Governor's Individual Artist award in 2001. Her art is in many public and museum collections including The Jewish Museum, The Smithsonian National Museum of American Art, and The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art." (Beth Ames Swartz website)
Provenance: private Goldstein collection, Denver, Colorado, USA. The Goldstein's have amassed their collection over the past six decades.
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#177195
- Condition: Artwork has been mounted in a gold tone frame and white matte behind plexiglass. Artwork has not been examined outside the frame but appears to be in very nice condition with signature, date, and title handwritten in red pencil below. Two minor drops of paint on border. Frame has a few minor scuffs but is otherwise very good and fit with suspension wire and ready to display.
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