Natalie Edgar Explained

Natalie Edgar
Birth Place:New York City
Nationality:American
Education:Brooklyn College, Columbia University
Occupation:Painter, Art Critic, Art Historian
Known For:Painting, Expertise in Abstract Expressionism
Style:Abstract Expressionism
Spouse:Philip Pavia
Children:Luigi (b. 1968; d. 2012), Paul (b. 1971)

Natalie Edgar (born 1932) is an American abstract expressionist painter,[1] a former critic for ARTnews,[2] and a key writer and historian on the birth and development of abstract expressionism.[3]

Career

As a painter, Edgar has been classified as a "wom[a]n artist who broke the rules,"[4] and her lively, and often large, abstractions typically include a "mass of layered colors—with multiple glazes, opacities, broad areas laid down in washes"[5] while "using dynamic strokes and contrasting tones [that] ... juxtapose[s] color with areas of vacant canvas."[6] Her skill and interests built on early art training at Brooklyn College with Mark Rothko, Ad Reinhardt, Burgoyne Diller, Alfred Russell, Harry Holzman, Martin James, and a degree in art history from Columbia University.[7] That background laid the groundwork for a life-long appreciation for abstraction, which spanned reviews for Isamu Noguchi, Norman Bluhm, Esteban Vicente and Franz Kline as well as a 1965 review on "The Satisfactions of Robert Motherwell" for ARTnews, in which she explained her thinking about abstraction this way:

The almost-star could be a starfish, two ovals suggest anatomy, an egg-shape might be an egg, a blot a cocoon, a rumpled paper bag evokes the many lives it passed through, an almost-arch strains to bend more or straighten out, almost-triangle yearns to be perfect. They assume the capability needed to reach their ideals at one extreme, or, at the other extreme, their freedom in abstract invention. From familiar shapes they are transfigured into dramatic images.[8]
Edgar has written and collaborated on many long-form projects on the early history of Abstract Expressionism. Her book Club Without Walls documents the movement's birth and development at the 8th Street Club.[9] Collaborative work with husband and sculptor Phillip Pavia, also on The Club, is now archived at Emory University's research libraries.[10] [11] Edgar has also served as a source for scholarly research on the movement's origins at MOMA[12] and in interviews with author Mary Gabriel for Ninth Street Women, a book about five women painters who changed modern art.[13]

Solo exhibitions

Awards

Bibliography of Edgar's writings

Personal life

Edgar was married to the abstract expressionist sculptor Philip Pavia.[14] The couple had two sons: Their elder son Luigi died in 2012.[15] Their younger son Paul is a sculptor.[16]

References

  1. Web site: Natalie Edgar Paintings from the Last Decade. Art net.com. Feb 6, 2019.
  2. News: Natalie Edgar Archives. Edgar. Natalie. Oct 28, 2015. ARTnews. Feb 6, 2019.
  3. Web site: Natalie Edgar. Wide Walls. Jan 25, 2019.
  4. News: At Art Miami, Mark Borghi Celebrates Women Artists Who Broke the Rules. Cascone. Sarah. Dec 8, 2017. Artnet News. Jan 25, 2019.
  5. News: Natalie Edgar: Abstract Journey. Benton. William. Apr 2, 2012. The Brooklyn Rail. Nov 13, 2018.
  6. Web site: Between Picture and Viewer: The Image in Contemporary Painting. MutualArt.com. Feb 3, 2019.
  7. Web site: Natalie Edgar. Ask Art. Feb 3, 2019.
  8. Edgar. Natalie. Oct 1965. Retrospective: The Satisfactions of Robert Motherwell. ARTnews.
  9. Book: Edgar, Natalie. Club Without Walls. Midmarch Arts Press. 2007. 978-1877675645.
  10. Web site: Philip Pavia and Natalie Edgar archive of abstract expressionist art, 1913–2005. Emory Libraries and Information Technology. 13 October 2009 . Jan 25, 2019.
  11. Web site: On Not Becoming Loners and Fading Away: An Overview of the Philip Pavia and Natalie Edgar Archive of Abstract Expressionist Art. Brown. Devin. Aug 15, 2013. Burnaway: The Voice of Art in the South. Jan 25, 2019.
  12. Web site: Abstract Expressionism's Counterculture: The Club, the Cold War, and the New Sensibility. Hellstein. Valerie. MOMA. Nov 13, 2018.
  13. Book: Gabriel, Mary. Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art. Little, Brown and Company. 2017. 978-0316226189. New York.
  14. News: Philip Pavia, 94, an Avant-Garde Sculptor, Is Dead. Sisario. Ben. Apr 15, 2005. The New York Times. Feb 6, 2019.
  15. News: Luigi Pavia, 44, 'a Talent for Friendship'. Sep 20, 2012. The East Hampton Star. Jan 25, 2019.
  16. News: Paul Pavia's Small Sculptures Recall Great Monoliths. Segal. Mark. Jan 19, 2017. The East Hampton Star. Jan 25, 2019.

External links

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