949. Howard Kanovitz (1929-2009),

American, The Opening, 1967.

Acrylic on canvas, 213.36 x 426.7 cm.

Kunsthalle, Bremen. Photorealism.

 

 

Originally a student of Franz Kline, Kanovitz’s early artwork could have been filed under the emotional, anti-geometric title of Abstract Expressionism, most notably exemplified by Jackson Pollock. But, having grown weary, and feeling limited by the movement, Kanovitz broke away from it in the 1960s, going on to become one of an innovator of the up-and-coming Photorealism movement along with artists like Chuck Close, Richard Estes and Ralph Goings.

His breakthrough painting, The Opening, depicts members of the New York art scene based on photographs taken of them at real gallery openings. The work is not only innovative for its realistic portraits based on photographs, but for the conceptual questions it begs about the relationship between viewer and subject.