Paul Burlin
Encyclopedia
Paul Burlin was born in New York of an English father and a German
mother. Burlin was a modern and abstract expressionist painter.
near the Polish
border. Paul grew up in New York City and London, the oldest of three children. His sister, Carrie, was born in 1890, his brother, David, in 1895. Paul disliked the name Isadore, and stopped using it as soon as he could, when he left home at 16. He found it too painful to discuss his early years, and he refused to do so. Once on his own, he changed his name to Harry Paul Burlin. By 1911, Harry had become H. and by 1915 it was gone altogether. Paul had completely separated from his family and his past, and continued to be forward thinking his whole life.
Show in New York, the first Modern art exhibition in the United States. This was the exhibit that brought the work of the European vanguard, such as Picasso, Manet, Monet, and Degas to the United States.
, landscapes, and scenes of local daily life. These themes sold well in New York. Burlin was heavily influenced by the spirituality of the Pueblo Indians. Realist works gave way to experimentation with symbols and anthropomorphism
. His work was shown at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts exhibition in 1919.
(1875-1921), in 1914. Burlin married Natalie Curtis, in 1917. She was an ethnomusicologist working to preserve Native American Indian music in New Mexico
. Natalie Curtis is best known for her 1907, “The Indians’ Book”.
to paint commentary against the brutality of war. He was especially concerned with Jewish persecution. Burlin’s own abstract expressionist form crystallized. His key symbols begin to emerge. Paul Burlin exhibited in the 1944 Art in Progress show.
, and the University of Texas.
. In the next ten years he underwent eight cornea
implants. His despair at losing his sight was often a theme in his work. He painted, even at the times when he was declared legally blind
. In a respite from the darkness, he painted The Series of Nine very near the end of his life. Paul Burlin died in 1969. The nine final paintings, which summarize and celebrate the life of the painter were shown at the NY MOMA in 1971, and at the Pasadena Museum in 1972.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
mother. Burlin was a modern and abstract expressionist painter.
Childhood
Paul Burlin was born Isadore Berlin to Jacob and Julia Berlin in 1886. The family name was originally Berlinsky. His father was from London. His mother from a small city in Northern GermanyNorthern Germany
- Geography :The key terrain features of North Germany are the marshes along the coastline of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, and the geest and heaths inland. Also prominent are the low hills of the Baltic Uplands, the ground moraines, end moraines, sandur, glacial valleys, bogs, and Luch...
near the Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
border. Paul grew up in New York City and London, the oldest of three children. His sister, Carrie, was born in 1890, his brother, David, in 1895. Paul disliked the name Isadore, and stopped using it as soon as he could, when he left home at 16. He found it too painful to discuss his early years, and he refused to do so. Once on his own, he changed his name to Harry Paul Burlin. By 1911, Harry had become H. and by 1915 it was gone altogether. Paul had completely separated from his family and his past, and continued to be forward thinking his whole life.
Artistic education
From 1900 to 1912, Burlin was a part time student at the National Academy of Art and the Art Student’s League.Travels
Burlin was able to travel in Europe in 1908 to 1909. He visited the southwest United States in 1910. The southwestern paintings he made on the trip to Santa Fe were shown in New York in 1911. The critical acclaim of this exhibition led to his invitation to participate in the Armory Show.Armory Show
Burlin was invited to participate in the 1913 69th Regiment ArmoryArmory (military)
An armory or armoury is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
Show in New York, the first Modern art exhibition in the United States. This was the exhibit that brought the work of the European vanguard, such as Picasso, Manet, Monet, and Degas to the United States.
Santa Fe
Burlin moved to Santa Fe in 1913 and painted there until 1920, while exhibiting his work in New York City. He painted portraits of Pueblo IndiansNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, landscapes, and scenes of local daily life. These themes sold well in New York. Burlin was heavily influenced by the spirituality of the Pueblo Indians. Realist works gave way to experimentation with symbols and anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
. His work was shown at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts exhibition in 1919.
First Marriage
Paul Burlin met Natalie CurtisNatalie Curtis
Natalie Curtis was an American ethnomusicologist. Curtis, along with Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Frances Densmore, was one of a small group of women doing important ethnological studies in North America at the beginning of the 20th century...
(1875-1921), in 1914. Burlin married Natalie Curtis, in 1917. She was an ethnomusicologist working to preserve Native American Indian music in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. Natalie Curtis is best known for her 1907, “The Indians’ Book”.
European Artistic exile
Paul and Natalie moved to Paris in 1921. Shortly after a successful presentation at a conference on ethnomusicology, Natalie was struck by a taxi on the street and killed. Paul was devastated. He remained in France. In 1924, he married his second wife, Margarete (Margot) Koop. Margarete was the mother of his only child, Barbara, who was born in 1927. Paul exhibited in New York, and in Paris. He studied European abstract painting styles, which influenced his increasingly socially concerned themes. Living in Europe for a decade may have contributed to Burlin’s reception back home. It certainly gave him an opportunity to develop his style. His work was included in the New York Museum of Modern Art’s Ninth Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by Living Americans in 1930. Three of his paintings were shown: Flowers, 1927, Horses in Stable, ca. 1928, and Hills and Houses. Burlin was not able to attend, however, since he was still in Paris.Return to the United States
In 1932, Paul, his wife, and daughter moved back to the United States. They settled in New York, where Paul lived for the rest of his life, when he was not traveling or working as an artist in residence. He worked as a member of the Federal Project of the Whitney Museum. Paul Burlin was also among those who signed the call for the American Artist’s Congress in 1936. In 1936, Paul and Margarete divorced. Paul married in 1937, to Helen Simonson.Second World War
Burlin used images from Greek mythologyGreek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
to paint commentary against the brutality of war. He was especially concerned with Jewish persecution. Burlin’s own abstract expressionist form crystallized. His key symbols begin to emerge. Paul Burlin exhibited in the 1944 Art in Progress show.
Abstract Expressionism
Paul Burlin begins to use abstract expressionism as a mode for personal expression. Burlin divorced his third wife in 1946 and married Margaret (Peggy) Timmerman in 1947. He and Margaret remained together for the rest of his life. Burlin was invited to be Artist in Residence at many universities and museums such as the [[University of Minnesota]], [[Washington University]] in St. Louis, [[University of Colorado at BoulderUniversity
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
, and the University of Texas.
Last Days
In the 1950’s, Burlin began to lose his sightBlindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
. In the next ten years he underwent eight cornea
Cornea
The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Together with the lens, the cornea refracts light, with the cornea accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power. In humans, the refractive power of the cornea is...
implants. His despair at losing his sight was often a theme in his work. He painted, even at the times when he was declared legally blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
. In a respite from the darkness, he painted The Series of Nine very near the end of his life. Paul Burlin died in 1969. The nine final paintings, which summarize and celebrate the life of the painter were shown at the NY MOMA in 1971, and at the Pasadena Museum in 1972.
Honors and awards
- 1913 Art exhibited in the Armory Show
- 1930 Included in the New York Museum of Modern Art’s Ninth Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by Living Americans
- 1945 The artist’s jury for the Pepsi-cola “Portrait of America” contest awarded Burlin first prize for his work titled the “Soda Jerker”. The prize was to be $2500. But, Pepsi-cola chose another winner, and Burlin was not allowed to collect.
- 1959 One of three first prize winners of $1000 for Art USA: 59, New York, for “Rose, White, Uptight.”
- 1962 First prize from the Pennsylvania Academy for “Red, Red, Not the Same II”
- 1962 Listed as one of 102 Artists "To Wax Enthusiastic About" in Time Magazine, July 6, 1962.
- 1963 Burlin mentioned in the 50th anniversary of the 1913 Armory Show.
Retrospectives
- 1962: The American Federation of Arts: Exhibitions in Philadelphia, Boston and New York, sponsored by the Ford Foundation Program in Humanities and the Arts
- 1970-1971: The Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, CaliforniaPasadena, CaliforniaPasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, Exhibition of The Last Nine
Quotes
- “In the process of making a painting in an abstract way, the painter is in search of a reality. Not one of realistic objects, but of the complete end result. The painting is experienced as a whole, and must evoke in the painter the absolute conviction that this is how it should be and no other way.” – Paul Burlin
- "Modern painting is the bulwark of the individual creative expression, aloof from the political left and its blood brother, the right." – Paul Burlin
External links
- Library listing for Paul Burlin papers including letters, sketchbooks and interviews
- Burlin painting
- Painting at Washington University from Paul Burlin’s time as artist in residence
- List of 102 Artists, including Burlin, “To Wax Enthusiastic About”
- “Unprized Prizewinner” article about Burlin’s Soda Jerker
- Provincetown, MA Art Association and Museum permanent collection
- New York Times article, Art: Paul Burlin, A Case Of December Flowering, September 11, 1981
- Smithsonian archives of American art
- Art Student’s League list of past instructors, Paul Burlin
- Article about Modernism in Santa Fe
- Burlin Quote on Abstract painting
- Duchamp’s 1963 speech about the painters included in the 1913 show
- Website dedicated to Natalie Curtis, a groundbreaking musicologist and Burlin’s first wife
- Alice Klauber’s account which includes Paul and Natalie Burlin’s years in Paris for 12 years beginning in 1921
- Natalie Curtis Burlin article
- Dissertation on Natalie Curtis Burlin