Adolph Gottlieb

American, 1903-1974

Gottlieb was born on March 14, 1903 in New York City to parents Emil and Elsie Berger Gottlieb. Following his studies from 1920 to 1921 at the Art Students League of New York, Gottlieb became determined to become an artist and spent the next year studying art in Central Europe. Upon his return in 1923, Gottlieb studied at Parsons School of Design, Cooper Union and the Educational Alliance in New York City. 

In 1930, Gottlieb presented eighteen paintings during his first solo exhibition at the Dudensing Galleries in New York City. He began to show regularly as a member of the emerging New York school of Abstract Expressionists alongside artist Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko. In 1935, this trio, along with other artists, formed The Ten, a group of abstract and expressionist artists that collaborated until the 1940s. From then on, Gottlieb experimented with his personal artistic approach. He developed his pictographic style, inspired by African and indigenous art and mythology, and also created his iconic “Burst” series. One thing that remained consistent for Gottlieb throughout the 1940s and 1950s was his protesting of curatorial prejudice and criticism against avant-garde art. 

A founding member of the Abstract Expressionist movement, Adolph Gottlieb’s legacy endures as a defining voice in the evolution of 20th-century American art. Gottlieb’s art offers a timeless exploration of the human condition, affirming his place as a central figure in the history of modern art.