Lot 162
**Originally Listed At $800**
Morris Kantor (Russian-American, 1896-1974). "Synthetic Panorama" oil on canvas, 1964. Signed and dated on the upper left. An abstract painting by Morris Kantor that demonstrates the artist's avant-garde aesthetic. Kantor was particularly interesting, because he created not only representational still lifes and landscapes, but also masterfully engaged with Modernism, exploring such movements as Cubism, Futurism, and Surrealism. The title "Synthetic Panorama" is probably the only literal reference made by Kantor in this piece, and at that, its precise meaning is far from transparent. The painting is comprised of various biomorphic forms with twisting curves and gestural passages. Kantor presents spaces from different angles and viewpoints, rendering shapes that while two dimensional conjure sculptural forms and suggest movement along with the passage of time. All is delineated in a vibrant color palette and an expressive manner, and set in a custom frame. Size: 61.875" L x 49.75" W (157.2 cm x 126.4 cm) Size of frame: 62.875" L x 50.75" W (159.7 cm x 128.9 cm)
Born in Minsk, Russia (now Belarus) Morris Kantor immigrated to the United States in 1906 when he was just a child. There is some debate as to whether he was with family or alone, but we know that he was very young, lived in New York City, and earned enough money working in the Garment District to enroll in art school by age 20. Kantor began attending the Independent School of Art in New York in 1916 and went on to teach at Cooper Union during the 1940s and the Art Students League from 1936 to 1972. Many of his students - including Robert Rauschenberg, Knox Martin, Susan Weil, and Sigmund Abeles - became quite famous in their own right.
Kantor maintained a studio in Manhattan, close to Union Square, as well as on Cape Cod in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. During the 1920s, he also worked in Paris. His arts circle included notable modernists such as the sculptor Isamu Noguchi. During the 1930s, Kantor supervised a Federal Arts Project Easel Painting Project in Rockland County, New York. The following decade he spent some summers in Monhegan, Maine, and in the 1960s his work was shown at Bertha Schaefer Gallery in New York City. Kantor's work has also been exhibited at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and other prestigious institutions. His honors include receiving the Logan Medal of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Temple Medal of the University of Illinois. Kantor's oeuvre was vast and impressive, as he explored numerous styles ranging from realism colored by a hint of Surrealism to abstract movements including Cubism and Futurism.
This painting was exhibited at the Bertha Schaefer Gallery; note the Bertha Schaefer Gallery label attached to one of the stretcher bars. According to the Archives of American Art, "Bertha Schaefer (1895-1971) was an interior designer and director of the Bertha Schaefer Gallery in New York, New York. Schaefer was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi to Emil and Julia (Marx) Schaefer. She received her B.A. on June 1, 1914 from Mississippi State College for Women, and received a diploma for interior decorating from the Parsons School of Design in New York City. In 1924, after living in Paris for 5 months, she opened Bertha Schaefer Interiors in New York. In 1944, she opened the Bertha Schaefer Gallery of Contemporary Art, which featured American and European paintings and sculpture."
Provenance: Private M. C. collection, Irvine, California, USA; Ex-Morris Kantor collection
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#168226
- Condition: Signed and dated on the upper left. There is a 1" tear at upper center and a 5.5" tear at lower left. Slight separations between gold coverings on frame's edges. Minor scuffs/nicks to frame commensurate with age. There is a Bertha Schaefer Gallery label attached to one of the stretcher bars. "Schaefer" is handwritten on the stretchers as well. One area of staining on the verso.
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