Nicholas Krushenick (1929-1999) was an American abstract painter renowned for his distinctive style that fused the sensibility and palette of Pop Art with geometric abstraction.
Native to New York, Krushenick’s career began in the late 1950s. As an artist he was keen to move beyond the gestural approach that characterized Abstract Expressionism, gravitating towards the flat planes, bold saturated colors and animated style that defined Pop Art.
Along with his brother John, Nicholas founded the artist cooperative, ‘Brata Gallery’ in 1957, one of the famous 10th Street galleries in New York. These modest, artist-run spaces rejected the established uptown gallerists that governed the industry. Some of the young artists that showed at Brata, including Yayoi Kusama, Al Held, and Ed Clark, favoured bold and optimistic art and often used pop culture graphics.
Although Krushenick’s works were most closely associated with Pop, his style was considered too joyful and lacking irony to fit comfortably with Pop Art. Although his use of bolder colors, lines inspired by illustrations, and use of abstract figurative forms still mark him as one of the original practitioners of Pop Art. Today, many would consider his works to be Pop Abstraction.
In 1977 Krushenick became a professor at the University of Maryland where he would remain until 1991. Krushenick's artworks have gained immense recognition during the last two decades of his life, and after, for his singular style which straddled many movements, but remained entirely unique to him. Today, we can see his influence on an array of contemporary artists ranging from Carroll Dunham to Julia Dault.
Krushenick’s works have been exhibited globally and are in the permanent collections of many of the most prestigious art museums including MoMA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Albright-Knox Gallery, Whitney Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and dozens of others.
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“Deep Down Orange”
Silkscreen
Signed, dated and numbered by the artist
From an edition of 200
30"H 22"W (work)
33.5"H 26"W (framed)
Very good condition
