Born in Spuyten Duyvil, New York, in the late 19th century, artist Georgina Klitgaard was known for her panoramic landscapes of New York, including the scenic views of the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River Valley.
While the artist achieved great success in her lifetime—she was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship; received representation by major American art galleries; was invited to exhibit in museum annuals at the Whitney, the Carnegie and the Corcoran; and was patronized by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney—Klitgaard’s artwork has ultimately been swept under the currents of Post-War art trends.
“Her style of painting is emblematic of a stylized modernism that was born in Woodstock in the 1920s and ’30s—i.e. Milton Avery and Sally Michel, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Ernest Fiene, Doris Lee and Arnold Blanch,” says Eli Sterngass, partner at New York City-based gallery Lincoln Glenn.
A forthcoming exhibition at Lincoln Glenn running October 12 to November 23 seeks to highlight the long under-appreciated works of this important 20th-century artist. Although based in the Upstate New York region, the exhibition showcases Klitgaard’s travels across the United States, with views of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Massachusetts, California and New Mexico—and, of course, rural and urban depictions of New York.
Among the highlights in the show is an oil titled Radiant Moon, in which a vivid moon illuminates rays of light in all directions. “My eyes nearly popped out when I saw this painting for the first time. I love a lot of Klitgaard’s work, but this modernist painting is very different from many of her more conservative landscapes,” says Sterngass. “The location is likely near Woodstock, New York, and the scene is reminiscent of four nocturne paintings George Ault executed between 1943 and 1948 depicting the crossroads of Russell’s Corners in Woodstock.
In fact, Georgina Klitgaard was a good friend of the Ault’s, and George’s wife Louise interviewed Klitgaard in the Poughkeepsie Sunday New Yorker during this time period. With its single light source and eerie telephone pole, this painting is luminous and truly wondrous, radiating an energy sometimes seen in Charles Burchfield’s work. Another major work is a pastoral scene titled Newton’s Farm. “This painting is more representative of Klitgaard’s work around her home in Upstate New York,” Sterngass explains. “Klitgaard first fell in love with the Woodstock community and landscape in the early 1920s and often painted seemingly ‘ordinary’ scenes such as this portrayal of a neighbor’s farm in early autumn as the foliage begins to change.
Yet, seen in the context of this exhibition with scenes from all over the United States, the changing foliage is anything but ordinary, amongst landscapes from her travels of Southwestern deserts, New England beaches and Southeastern swamps.
Georgina Klitgaard: America Through Her Eyes is the first solo exhibition of the artist’s work in nearly 50 years.
