LILLIAN KIESLER
DRAWINGS FROM THE 1970s
February 4 - March 31, 2022
Lillian Kiesler, Black Eyed Susan, Schooley's Mountain, 1976, Oil crayon and ink on paper, 9 x 12 inches
Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present its first ever exhibition of works on paper by Lillian Kiesler (1910-2001), an artist, art patron and widow of the avant-garde artist Frederick Kiesler (1890-1965). The exhibition is hosted in conjunction with Frederick Kiesler: A Retrospective Installation, a comprehensive survey currently presented in our gallery on 57th Street.
Culling together works that originated in the decade following her husband’s passing, Lillian Kiesler: Drawings from the 1970s reveals Mrs. Kiesler as the fervent and unshakable spirit she was. Though deeply impacted by her husband’s passing, she continued to create exuberant still lifes and nature studies, often employing pastels for their distinct luminosity. Meanwhile, the freedom of gesture that characterizes her work serves as a direct reflection of her artistic training, which she had received under Hans Hofmann at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts in the 1930s, as well as at the Art Students League and Cooper Union. Later, she would teach art education at New York University and host various benefit auctions at Greenwich House, New York, featuring the artwork of local children. In addition, she had performed as a dancer, and in theater pieces by artists like Steve Buscemi and John Jesurun, often appearing with her longtime companion, Maryette Charlton.
Left: Lillian Kiesler, A Smile for a Summer Day, Schooley's Mountain, 1970, Ink and oil pastel on paper, 8 x 5 inches
Right: Lillian Kiesler, Poppy, Schooley's Mountain, 1973, Ink on paper, 12 x 9 inches
While first introduced to her future husband by Burgoyne Diller in the 1930s, after which they became close friends, it was not until 1964 that the couple would marry. Kiesler would later argue that indeed his first wife, Stefi Kiesler, who had passed away in 1963, suggested this union. After Frederick Kiesler’s death in 1965, Lillian Kiesler helped to organize his oeuvre, placing many works and papers at Harvard, Yale and in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. She significantly assisted with Frederick Kiesler’s retrospective exhibition hosted by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York in 1989 and in 1997 she helped establish the Austrian Frederick and Lillian Kiesler Private Foundation, an archive and study center based in Vienna that, this year, celebrates its 25th Anniversary. Following her wishes, the Austrian Frederick Kiesler Award for Architecture and the Arts was endowed in 1997. The award is presented alternately by the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna every two years. Former recipients include Frank O. Gehry (1998), Judith Barry (2000), Olafur Eliasson (2006), Toyo Ito (2008), Andrea Zittel (2012), Bruce Nauman (2014) and Theaster Gates (2021), among others.
