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Sam Glankoff (1894-1982)

Sam Glankoff (1894-1982) was a New York-based, American artist whose innovative techniques and contributions to the enduring language of abstract expressionism have earned him a distinct place in the history of modern art.

Primarily a self-taught painter, Glankoff was also an accomplished woodcut artist. Technically innovative, decidedly individualistic and, by his own choice, routinely isolated from the broader society and art world he found so distracting, Glankoff developed an original technique that combined aspects of wooduct, print-making and painting in an all-new, modernist genre. Glankoff invented “print-paintings,” richly layered works made with colored, water-based inks applied to delicate Japanese papers. Joining several sheets of paper together to create large-format works, he produced eloquent abstractions whose primordial symbols, bold brushstrokes and spiritual energy found affinities with both the monumental art forms of ancient civilizations and the aspirational expressions of the art of his time.

In 1981, at the age of 87, Glankoff had his first-ever solo exhibition in a New York gallery; he died just six months later, after enjoying the unprecedented critical success his work received. Writing of Sam Glankoff in 1981, John Russell, the New York Times distinguished senior art critic's evaluation typified the collective critical response to the artist's first and only solo exhibition: “It is not everyday that an artist of stature makes his debut in New York at the age of 87." Glankoff had participated in Whitney Studio Club group exhibitions each year from 1922 to 1928, receiving critical attention in New York Times reviews. When the Club disbanded in 1928, he stopped exhibiting his art. In 1974, when he was 80, the Whitney Museum of American Art offered him an exhibition. His response to that was: "I'm not ready yet." During his lifetime, the artist never made any effort to gain public attention for his art. Today, his works may be found in many public, private and corporate collections, including those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Critic and author Edward Madrid Gomez has written for the New York Times, Art in America, ARTnews, Art + Auction, Art & Antiques, Raw Vision, the Japan Times, Reforma and other publications in the U.S., Europe, Mexico and Japan. He has written or contributed to monographs on the work of Adolf Wolfli, Roberto Cortazar, Yoko Ono and other artists.

For more information on Sam Glankoff: www.samglankoff.com