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Robert Zakanitch

  • About
  • Works in the Kenneth E. Tyler Collection
  • Chronology
  • Further Reading

Black and White image of Robert Zakanitch

Robert Zakanitch working on the edition 'How I love ya, how I love ya' at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Bedford Village, New York, 1981
Gift of Kenneth Tyler 2002
Photographer: Marabeth Cohen-Tyler

Robert Rahway Zakanitch was born in New Jersey in 1935 and studied at the Newark School of Industrial and Fine Arts working as a commercial artist for a New York–based advertising company. After leaving the commercial arts world in the mid 1960s, Zakanitch worked in an Abstract Expressionist style. While he retained some of the spontaneous, gestural qualities of this style, his later work, like that produced at Tyler Graphics, became more representational.

Flowers are a common motif in Zakanitch’s work and between 1979 and 1981 he created several exuberant series with a floral focus. His Paper pulp series of 1981 consists of 23 unique works created by applying pulps and dyes to specially constructed moulds.

Emilie Owens

Works in the Kenneth E. Tyler Collection


  • Robert R. Zakanitch

    Study for Sapphire
    1981

  • Robert R. Zakanitch

    Hearts of swan (black)
    1980-81

  • Robert R. Zakanitch

    Study for Hussy
    1979

Browse all works by Robert Zakanitch

Chronology


1935 Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States of America

1954–57 Attends Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, New Jersey

1958–62 Commercial artist for D'Arcy Advertising Corporation, New York City, New York

1962 Leaves advertising to paint full-time; works in Abstract Expressionist style

1965 First solo exhibition, at Henri Gallery, Alexandria, Virginia

1967 Included in Annual exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

1970 Receives Creative Artist Public Service grant

1973 Included in The way of color, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1975 Meets with artists Joyce Kozloff, Robert Kushner and Miriam Schapiro to discuss the issue of decoration in painting

1976 Visiting Artist, Art Institute of Chicago; included in exhibition, About Decoration, at Alessandra Gallery, New York City

1977 Completes screenprint Untitled, published by HKL/Ltd., Boston; Visiting Artist, Art Institute of Chicago

1980 Selected for Venice biennale, Italy; included in travelling exhibition, The Morton G. Neumann Family Collection: selected works, organised by National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1980–81 Completes prints and unique paper pulp works at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Bedford Village, New York

1981 Solo exhibition, at Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; included in Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

1984 Included in exhibitions, Prints from Tyler Graphics, at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; An international survey of recent painting and sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York City

1985 Included in exhibition, American painting now! Painting in the 1980s, Columbus Museum of Art, Georgia

1986 Included in exhibition, An American renaissance: painting and sculpture since 1940, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

1987 Solo exhibition, A view of the workshop: from Tyler Graphics, at Katonah Gallery, New York City

1988 Included in exhibition, The combination print: 1980s, New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts, Summit; designs plates and vases for porcelain manufacturer in Sevres, France

1989 Included in exhibition, The natural image, Stanford Museum, California

1995 Receives John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship; included in exhibition, Floral contemporary artists in the world of flowers, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin

1997 Included in exhibition, Aprés Monet: the water lily in contemporary art, Hammond Museum, North Salem, New York

1999 Lectures at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, University of Oklahoma, Norman

2003 Solo exhibitions: Aggressive goodness series, at Spike Gallery, New York; Aggressive goodness series II, at Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, California

2004 Solo exhibition, Aggressive endearment, at Spike Gallery, New York

2005 Solo exhibition, Silhouette series, at Spike Gallery, New York

2006 Solo exhibitions: Charms, at Spike Gallery, New York; Lace paintings, at Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, California; Robert Rahway Zakanitch, at Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, Florida

2007 Solo exhibitions: Robert Rahway Zakanitch: the lace paintings, at Locks Gallery, Philadelphia; Tureen series, Werkstätte, New York

2010 Solo exhibition, From a garden of ordinary miracles, at Samuel Freeman Gallery, Los Angeles

2013 Solo exhibition, Robert Zakanitch: hanging gardens, at Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New YorkRobert Rahwey Zakanitch currently lives and works in New York City, New York

Barbara Delano © Tyler Graphics Ltd., revised Kate Buckingham, 2006; revised Julia Greenstreet, 2013

This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.

Further Reading


NATIONAL GALLERY PUBLICATIONS

  • Workshop: The Kenneth Tyler Collection, Jane Kinsman (ed.), 2015

TYLER GRAPHICS PUBLICATIONS

  • Four In/On Handmade Paper, 1983
  • Double Peacock and Paper Pulp Series, 1981
  • A series of prints and unique works in coloured paper pulp, 1981

STORIES:

  • ARTIST IN FOCUS: Robert Zakanitch

Related


The Kenneth E. Tyler Collection

Film launch! Kenneth Tyler: The Art of Collaboration

A photo taken from above of a man operating a hydraulic lithography press

The film documents Kenneth Tyler’s life and work from childhood, through his training to become a master printer.

Read Time 3 minutes
Exhibition

Rauschenberg & Johns
Significant others

Past Exhibition
Print in black and navy on white backbround with the word BLUE in capital letters and the mirror image of it

11 Jun 2022 – 29 Jan 2023

This exhibition draws upon the National Gallery’s Kenneth Tyler Collection of prints by both Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.

The Kenneth E. Tyler Collection

Artist in Focus: Robert Zakanitch

Kenneth Tyler and Robert Zakanitch discussing designs for the 'Paper Pulp'

Robert Zakanitch reflects on his embrace of ornamentation in the 1970s, experiences of working at TGL, and relationship with Kenneth Tyler

Read Time 9 minutes

Artists

A woman in a room looking at artwork on a wall

Kenneth Tyler collaborated with leading artists working in America in the post Second World War era. He also mentored emerging artists.

Robert Bell

Photograph of Robert Bell

The National Gallery mourns the loss of former Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design Dr Robert Bell AM, who passed away 28 July 2018.

Exhibition

The Artist and the Printer

Past Exhibition

29 Nov 1986 - 10 May 1987

Yuuma, Gurruburri

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