A painter and sculptor, Little attended the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and the Art Students League, New York, where he studied with George Grosz. He also trained under Hans Hofmann at Hofmann’s renowned schools in New York and Provincetown. Along with Elizabeth Parker and Alfonso Ossorio, he helped to establish the Signa Gallery, the first gallery in East Hampton to focus on contemporary, abstract artists.
In a 2008 exhibition catalogue Little’s daughter Abigail Tooker described her father as a “dedicated focused man” who loved gardening. She tells of the frequent dinner parties her parents hosted full of “brilliant, passionate, creative people” (among them Lee Krasner and Alfonso Ossorio) who would request that Little read from I Ching, from which he studied.
Tooker wrote of her father: “I see him standing before a canvas supported on his big paint-spattered easel in the big barn studio lit by the immense north window. Standing, left arm bent across his chest, left hand clutching his right arm, dangling paintbrush held in his right hand. Standing and absorbing and studying the canvas before him for what seemed hours, then step forward…a brush stroke applied to the canvas…step back, and more contemplation…more study.”
Pictured here is Purple Life. Rendered with rich blues, lavenders, and splashes of hot reds and yellows, the painting hints at the living earth—ocean, sky, and arched natural forms.
Works by John Little in the exhibition range in price from $14,000 to $42,500 and explore a range of media.
No comments:
Post a Comment