Norman Raeben (1901-1978). La pittura errante

Forty works by Raeben, exhibited in a widespread space, propose an ideal itinerary in the places of his painting and his travels – Paris, New York, Venice, Provincetown – reconstructing, together, his artistic evolution and his influence on numerous American artists , Jewish immigrant intellectuals of Yiddish culture. And his portraits of New York Jewish artists and intellectuals – Sholem Aleichem, Mary Adler, Pearl Pearson Adler, Luba Harrington, Miriam Kressyn, Bob Haggart, Paul Musikonsky, Bob Dylan, Seymour Osborne, and Stella Adler, who revolutionized the Group Theater the history of twentieth-century American cinema and theater.

The last stage of the journey leads to the artist’s atelier, who from 1946 dedicated himself to teaching on the eleventh floor of Carnegie Hall. Raeben’s artistic theories are exposed in his own voice through lesson materials and videos. Among the study works of Raeben and his students, there is also a painting attributed to the multifaceted Bob Dylan.

Precisely starting from Bob Dylan’s statements, it was possible to reconstruct Raeben’s artistic itinerary between America and Paris, where he met Chagall, Soutine, Matisse, Bissière.

Another section of the exhibition is dedicated to oils, still lifes and views of Venice and Provincetown, and to pastel and charcoal portraits and caricatures.

The exhibition also features previously unpublished materials: photographs of the artist’s studio, high-quality digital images of the artist and a documentary – Painting: a Laboratory of Aesthetics, filmed by Bill and Harvey Fertik – which includes four performance lessons by Raeben.

Date: 24 November 2024 – 14 January 2025