Hans Burkhardt Biography



 December 20, 1904  Born in Basel, Switzerland
 1924  Emigrates to New York
 1925-28  Studies at Cooper Union, New York
 1928-29  Studies with Arshile Gorky at Grand Central School of Arts, New York
 1928-37  Shares Arshile Gorky's studio
 1937  Moves to Los Angeles
 April 22, 1994  Died in Los Angeles, California


Solo Exhibitions | Group Exhibitions | Awards | Public Collections | Books Illustrated | Films on the Artist


SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1939
Stendahl Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1940-45
Circle Gallery, Los Angeles: Exhibits yearly

1945
Los Angeles County Museum, California

1947
University of Oregon, Eugene

1951
Museo de Bellas Artes, Guadalajara, Mexico
Los Angeles Art Association
Fraymart Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1952
Paul Kantor Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1953
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

1954
Falk-Raboff Gallery, Los Angeles, California: Retrospective in Three
Parts; Early Period, Mexican Period, Recent Period

1955
Occidental College, Los Angeles, California

1956
Instituto Allende, San Miguel Allende, Mexico
Mount Saint Mary's College, Los Angeles, CA

1957
Pasadena Art Museum: Ten Year Retrospective
Esther Robles Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1958
Instituto Allende, San Miguel Allende, Mexico

1959
Long Beach State College
Esther Robles Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1960
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Instituto Allende, San Miguel Allende, Mexico

1961
Ankrum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Pastel Exhibition
Ankrum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Oil Exhibition

1961-62
Thirty Year Retrospective: Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery

1962
Fresno Art Center
Santa Monica Municipal Art Gallery

1963
Ankrum Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Laguna Beach Art Association, California
San Fernando Valley State College, California

1964
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, Ca

1965
San Fernando Valley State College, California
Freie Schule, Basel, Switzerland

1966
San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, California: Forty Year Retrospective
Laguna Beach Art Association, California

1968
Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, San Diego, CA: Vietnam Paintings

1972
Long Beach Museum of Art: Retrospective 1950-1972
Michael Smith Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1973
California State University, Northridge, California

1975
California State University, Northridge,
California Permanent Installation at Oviatt Library

1977
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Pasquale Iannetti Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1978
Laguna Beach Museum of Art, CA: Mark Tobey/Hans Burkhardt
L.A. Mission College, CA: Hans Burkhardt

1979
Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA

1982
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles: Arshile Gorky and Hans Burkhardt

1983
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles: Hans Burkhardt: Basel Graffiti Series, catalogue published

1984
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA: Pastels: 50 Years of Figurative Expressionism, catalogue published
Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon: Hans Burkhardt Prints & Pastels from the Portland Museum Collection

1985
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles: Hans Burkhardt: The War Paintings, catalogue raisonné published.

1987
Sid Deutsch Gallery, New York: Hans Burkhardt: Paintings of the 1930's
Cunningham Memorial Art Gallery, Bakersfield, CA: Hans Burkhardt: The Basel Experience
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, California: Hans Burkhardt: Paintings 1950 - 1960, catalogue published Oakland Museum, Oakland, California: Hans Burkhardt: Works from the Permanent Collection

1988
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, California: Hans Burkhardt: In Contrast

1989
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, California: Hans Burkhardt:Paintings and Pastels

1990
Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania: Catastrophe According to Hans Burkhardt, catalogue by Donald Kuspit
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles: Hans Burkhardt: New Paintings and Drawings, catalogue published
Laguna Art Museum: Hans Burkhardt Prints from the Permanent Collection
Galway International Art Festival, Ireland; Donald Kuspit catalogue Catastrophe According to Hans Burkhardt accompanied this exhibition.

1990-91
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon: Mark Tobey and Hans Burkhardt: Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection

1991
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles: Hans Burkhardt: Desert Storms, catalogue by Peter Selz

1992
Cerro Cosco Community College Art Gallery, Hans Burkhardt

1993
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA: Hans Burkhardt: Desert Storms, curated by Peter Selz
Galerie Hesselbach, Berlin, Germany: Hans Burkhardt (Schweiz, USA), Pastelle-Eine Retrospektive von 1938-1983, Catalogue by Peter Selz continuing to:
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles: Pastels
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles: Black Rain, catalogue by Donald Kuspit

1994
Santa Barbara Museum of Art: Hans Burkhardt In Memoriam
Laguna Art Museum: Tribute to Hans Burkhardt
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts: Hans Burkhardt: Black Rain (catalogue by Donald
Kuspit)
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts: Hans Burkhardt: Pastel Retrospective (originated in Berlin, catalogue by Peter Selz)

1995
Portland Art Museum, Oregon: Hans Burkhardt Memorial Exhibition
Galway Arts Festival, Galway, Ireland: Hans Burkhardt Pastels: A Survey

1996
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas: Hans Burkhardt Drawings: 1932-1989, continuing to:

1997
Nora Eccles Harrison Art Museum, Utah State University, Logan, UT
Fullerton College: Hans Burkhardt - Death as a Creative Force: The Physical to the Spiritual

1998
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, Hans Burkhardt: Casting a Shadow



SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1945
Los Angeles County Museum, Annual, purchase award

1947
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.: Twentieth Biennial Exhibition

1947-48
Art Institute of Chicago, Abstract and Surrealist American Art
Modern Institute of Art, Beverly Hills, Modern Artists in Transition
California Palace Legion of Honor, San Francisco: 2nd Annual Exhibition of Painting
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA: Artists of L.A. and Vicinity

1949
Denver Art Museum, Annual Exhibition of Western Art

1950
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, American Painting Today

1951
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Whitney Museum of American Art
University of Illinois, circulated by the American Federation of Arts

1952
Chicago Art Institute
Whitney Museum of American Art
Los Angeles County Museum

1953
Denver Art Museum
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
California State Fair, Sacramento

1954
Los Angeles County Museum
California State Fair, Sacramento, purchase award

1955
San Francisco Museum, Art in the Twentieth Century
San Francisco Museum, Southern California Painters
Whitney Museum of American Art
Third Biennial International, Sao Paolo, Brazil, circulated to: Cincinnati Art Museum, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, San Francisco Museum of Art, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

1956
San Francisco Museum
Los Angeles County Museum

1957
Los Angeles County Museum, Annual, prize awarded
Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, All City Arts Festival, purchase award
California State Fair, Sacramento, purchase award

1958
Long Beach Museum, Art of Southern California II-Paintings, circulated to: Seattle Art Museum, Portland Art Museum, Oregon

1958
University of Nebraska Art Galleries
Whitney Museum of American Art
Madison Square Garden, New York, Art: USA
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Second Pacific Coast Biennial, purchase award

1959
Los Angeles County Museum
The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio

1960
The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego
Long Beach Museum of Art, Art of Southern California VIII, circulated to: Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, All City Art Festival purchase award

1960-61
Fifty Paintings by Thirty Seven Painters, circulated to: Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art, Des Moines Art Center, Marion Koogler MacNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, Roswell Art Museum, New Mexico, University of California Los Angeles

1961
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Two Hundred Years of American Painting

1962
Santa Monica Municipal Art Gallery

1963
Mount Saint Mary College, Los Angeles

1964
Kunsthalle, Basel, Switzerland
Long Beach Museum of Art:Art of Southern California- Early Moderns

1967
Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas

1976-77
Painting and Sculpture in California: The Modern Era, circulated to: San Francisco Museum of Art, National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian, Institution, Washington, D.C.

1980
Los Angeles County Museum of Art: Los Angeles Prints: 1883-1980
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.: The Human Form:
Contemporary American Figure Drawing and the Academic Tradition

1982
Laguna Art Museum: Drawings and Illustrations by Southern California Artists Before 1950

1982-83
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.: Acquisitions Since 1975

1983
Rosenberg Fine Arts Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Gallery Schlesinger-Boisante, New York: Three Tendencies:American Art of the 1930's and 40's

1984
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque: American Lithography: 1900-1960
Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York
Arnold Herstand Gallery, New York: Surrealist Works on Paper
Chapman College, Orange, California: Since Vietnam: The War and its Aftermath

1984-85
Artistic Collaboration in the 20th Century circulated to: Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C., Milwaukee Art Museum, J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky
20th Century American Drawings; The Figure in Context, circulated to: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, Oklahoma Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, Elvehjem Museum of Art, Madison, Wisconsin, National Academy of Design, Washington, D.C.

1985
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Maine, Recent Acquisitions

1986
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles: Through The Eyes of an Artist
Sid Deutsch Gallery, New York: American 20th Century Art
Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of Greensboro, North Carolina

1987
Associated American Artists, New York: Artists of Union Square
FHP Hippodrome Gallery, Long Beach, California: Elders of the Tribe

1988
ACE Gallery, Los Angeles, California: Unique Visions

1989
Skirball Museum, Los Angeles, New Acquisitions
Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, California: Dealer's Choice
Installation Gallery, San Diego, California: No Stomach

1990
Credit Suisse, New York, Between Two Worlds
Carl Schlossberg Fine Arts, New York: Turning the Tide: Early Los Angeles Modernists 1920-1956, circulated through 1992 to: Laguna Art Museum, CaliforniaOakland Museum of Art, California, Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio,Texas, Nora Eccles Harrison Art Museum, Utah State University, Logan, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Palm Springs Desert Museum
Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles: Censorship
American Gallery, Los Angeles: Functionists High
Cerritos College Fine Arts Gallery, Cerritos, California: Pastel
Louis Stern Galleries, Los Angeles: Stamens and Pistils: Interpreting the Flower 1790-1990

1991
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, The Art of the Print, Rembrandt to Warhol
Twining Gallery, New York, The Nude: Drawings of the Figure by New York School Artists, c. 1930-1950
Bryce Bannatyne, Santa Monica, California, Woodblocks & Drawings in California
Ersgard Gallery, Santa Monica, California,Constructivism: Past & Present
Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, California, Abstract & Surrealist California Art 1932-1949
Susan Teller Gallery, New York, New York , Circa 1950: Honoring Dorothy Dehner

1992
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California: Drawings from the
Collection
American Academy & Institute of Arts & Letters, New York, New York, Academy-Institute Invitational Exhibition
Cerro Coso Community College, Ridgecrest, California, Selections from Permanent Collection of Hans Burkhardt
Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary's College of California, The Crucifixion Through the Modern Eye
Montgomery Gallery, Galleries of the Claremont Colleges, Montgomery Gallery, Claremont, CA: American Abstract Drawings 1930-1987
L.A. Artcore, Los Angeles, California: Emigrant Abstraction: Non-Objective Painting by Foreign Born Artists Living in Los Angeles
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, New Acquisitions
California State University, L.A., California Painting: The Essential Modernist Framework
The Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA: Choice Encounters
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Small Treasures

1993
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA: 75 Works, 75 Years: Collecting The Art of California
Main Art Gallery, Visual Arts Center, California State University, Fullerton, The Elegant, Irreverent & Obsessive: Drawing in Southern California
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin

1994
Still Working circulated through 1996: Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Chicago Cultural Center, Former IBM Gallery, New York, Virginia Beach Center For The Arts, Virginia, Fisher Gallery, U.S.C., Los Angeles, Portland Art Museum, Oregon
Old Glory: The American Flag in Contemporary Art, circulated through 1996 to: Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, The Art Gallery of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona
Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, CA, The Generative Spirit
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA: Independent Visions: California Modernism, 1940-1970
G.W. Einstein Company, New York: Selected American Drawings II
Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Recent Acquisitions

1994-95
U.S. Ambassador Residence, Bern, Switzerland, California Contemporary Artists

1995
Pacific Dreams: Currents of Surrealism and Fantasy in California Art, 1934-1957, circulates through 1995 to: Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA, UCLA at the Armand Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, Nora Eccles Harrison Museum, Utah State, Utah, Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles
Fresno Art Museum, CA: Fifteen Profiles: Distinguished California Modernists
Spring Gallery, Santa Monica, CA: Old Glory, New Glory (The Flag Show)
Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles, Pasted Papers: Collage & the 20th Century

1996
The British Museum: Recent Acquisitions
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles: It's Not the Size That Counts: Small Treasures
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles: On the Edge of America: California Modernist Art 1900-1950
Forum Gallery, New York: Man and His Machine

1997
Susan Teller Gallery: Fine American Modernist Drawings
Orange County Museum of Art, Inaugural Exhibition
Mary Washington College Galleries
Long Beach Museum of Art
Basel Art Fair, Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York
Hooks-Epstein Galleries, Surrealism

1998
Art Miami 98, Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles
Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts, The 25th Anniversary Exhibition: Sculpture, Paintings, Prints and Drawings, Sherman Oaks
Catherine Clark Gallery, 20th Century Masterworks, San Francisco
Los Angeles Art Show 1998, Fine Art Dealers Association (FADA), Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles
Orange County Museum of Art, Gold Rush to Pop: 200 Years of California Art, Newport Beach


SELECTED AWARDS

1945
Los Angeles County Museum, Annual Exhibition, Purchase Award, Oil

1951
Terry Art Institute, Miami, Cash Award

1954
Los Angeles County Museum, Second Prize, Modern Oil
California State Fair & Exposition, First Prize Modern Oil

1955
Chaffey Community Art Association, Cash Award

1957
Los Angeles County Museum, Jr. Art Council Prize
Los Angles All-City Art Festival, Purchase Prize, Oil
California State Fair & Expo., Cash Award, Pastel

1958
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Second Annual Pacific Coast Biennial, Ala Story Purchase Award

1960
Los Angeles All-City Art Festival, First Purchase Award, Watercolor
California Watercolor Society, Merchandise Award

1961
California All-City Art Festival, First Purchase Award, Oil

1962
California State Fair & Exposition, Second Prize, Modern Oil

1963
California Watercolor Society, Purchase Award

1969
Academia Tomasso Campanella, Rome
International Academy of Arts, Silver Medal

1991
Citation from Mayor Tom Bradley, City of Los Angeles proclaiming Hans Burkhardt Week, October 11-17

1992
American Academy & Institute of Arts & Letters,
Jimmy Ernst Award in Art for Lifetime Achievement
LA Artcore, 4th Annual Award in Art


SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Achenbach Foundation, Palace Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California
Ahmanson Collection, Los Angeles
The Ambassador's Residence, Bern, Switzerland
Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock Arkansas
Art Collection of the State of California
British Museum, London, England
Hans Burkhardt Center for the Arts and Humanities, California State University, Northridge
Charles E. Craig Jr. Multicultural Art Collection, Louisiana State University Museum of Art, Baton Rouge
Coca Cola Collection
Columbia Museum of Art, South Carolina
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Downey Art Museum, Downey, California
Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Los Angeles
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Hirshhorn Collection, Washington, D.C.
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska
Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland
Laguna Art Museum, California
La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, California
Long Beach Museum of Art, California
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California
Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California
Newport Harbor Museum, Newport Beach, California
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum, Utah State University, Logan, Utah
Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California
Oakland Museum, Oakland, California
Palm Springs Desert Museum, California
Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Oregon
San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California
Security Pacific Bank Collection, Los Angeles
Skirball Museum, Los Angeles
Tamarind Institute, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts
The Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut


BOOKS ILLUSTRATED WITH ORIGINAL PRINTS BY THE ARTIST

"Man Dead? Then God is Slain," by Ray Bradbury, 1977

"Rattle Snake August," by William Everson, 1978, Santa Susana Press, CSUN Library

"The Many Faces of Jake Zeitlin," by Amanda Blanco, 1978, Santa Susana Press, CSUN Library

"Hans G. Burkhardt: Artist & Patron of the Arts," by William M. Kramer, 1982, Santa Susana Press, CSUN Library

"The Last Good Kiss." by Ray Bradbury, 1984, Santa Susana Press, CSUN Library

"Husks of Wheat." by Diane Wakoski, 1987, Santa Susana Press, CSUN Library


FILMS ON THE ARTIST

1961
Produced in the artist's studio by KHJ TV

1962
Filmed at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Galleries on the occasion of the Thirty-Year Retrospective, KHJ TV

1976
University of California, Los Angeles

1977
California State University, Northridge

1987
Hans Burkhardt: The Artist's World, produced by Gary & Sarah Legon, Estate Films, Inc.

1998
A Symposium on the Works of Hans Burkhardt, with Donald Kuspit, Jack Rutberg, Henry Hopkins. Produced by California State University, Northridge.

Dedication of the Hans Burkhardt Art and Humanities Center, California State
University Northridge, Northridge, California, October 13, 1989.

Mr. Burkhardt has been the subject of four MFA theses.


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