Ronald Bladen

Biography
  Images
Press Release


 
 

Chronology
 
 
Born: Vancouver, British Columbia, 1918
Died: New York City, 1988
 
 

Education
 
 
Vancouver School of Art, British Columbia
 
California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco
 
 

Awards
 
1968
  
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
1964
  
National Endowment for the Arts
1975
   Mark Rothko Fellowship
1977
  
National Endowment for the Arts
1988
  
Skowhegan Trustees & Governors Award for Service to the Arts
     
   

Teaching
 
1967
  
Hunter College, New York
1974-76
  
Visiting artist at Columbia University, New York
1976-88
  
Parsons School of Design, New York
1978-79
  
School of Visual Arts, New York
1981-82
  
Artist-in-residence, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine
1982-83
  
Visiting artist, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
1978-79
  
School of Visual Arts, New York
 
 

Solo Exhibitions
 
1946
  
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1951
  
Raymond & Raymond, San Francisco, CA
1953
  
Six Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1956
  
Paintings by Ronald Bladen, Fine Arts Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
1958
  
Brata Gallery, New York, NY
1960
  
Brata Gallery, New York, NY
1962
  
Ronald Bladen, Green Gallery, New York, NY
1967
  
Ronald Bladen, Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY
Ronald Bladen: Sculpture, Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
1970
  
Ronald Bladen: New Work, Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY
1971
  
Ronald Bladen: New Work, Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY
1972
  
Ronald Bladen: A Sculpture, Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY
Pasadena Art Museum, CA
Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
1977
  
Ronald Bladen: Outdoor Sculpture Proposal, The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY, in conjunction with the Public Art Council and Park Departments of Westchester and Manhattan
1980
  
Ronald Bladen: Models & Drawings, Hamilton Gallery, New York, NY
1986
  
Ronald Bladen, Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
1987
  
Ronald Bladen: The Wall Sculptures, Compass Rose Gallery, Chicago, IL
1988
  
Ronald Bladen: Recent Sculpture, Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
1989
  
Ronald Bladen: The 1950s, Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
1990
  
Ronald Bladen, Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
Ronald Bladen: Abstract Expressionist Paintings of the Late 1950s, Compass Rose Gallery, Chicago, IL
1990-92
  
Ronald Bladen: Early and Late, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; traveled to Vancouver Art Museum, Vancouver, BC
1992
  
Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
1995-96
  
Ronald Bladen: Drawings and Sculptural Models, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, The University of North Carolina Greensboro, NC; traveled to Sculpture Center, Long Island City, NY
1998
  
Ronald Bladen: Sculpture, Kunsthalle, Bielefeld, Germany
1999
  
Ronald Bladen: Selected Works, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, Queens, NY
2004
  
Ronald Bladen: From Expressionism to Minimalism, Selby Gallery, Ringling School of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL
Ronald Bladen: Paintings from the Fifties, Danese, New York, NY
 
 

Selected Group Exhibitions
 
1944
  
Sixty-Fourth Annual Exhibition, Oil, Tempera on Panel and Sculpture, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California
1945
  
Paintings by Bernard Bolter and Ronald Bladen, Reid Hyde, San Francisco, California
1946
  
Sixty-Sixth Annual Exhibition, Oil, Tempera and Sculpture, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
1950
  
[Lucille Austin, Ronald Bladen, Henry Dietrich, and Eileen Reynolds], Raymond & Raymond, San Francisco, California
1955
  
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
1958
  
Brata Gallery, New York, NY
1959
  
Two-person show with Sylvia Stone, Brata Gallery, New York, NY
1963
  
“Paintings, Drawings and Prints owned by Local Collectors,” The Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts, Delaware Art Center
1964
  
Invitational Show, Park Place Gallery, New York, NY
1965
  
Concrete Expressionism, Loeb Student Center, New York University, NY
Sculpture from All Directions, World House Galleries, New York, NY
1966
  
Primary Structures: Younger American and British Sculptures, The Jewish Museum, New York, NY. Organized by Kynaston McShine.
68th American Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
Annual Exhibition 1966: Contemporary Sculpture and Prints, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Aussetellung: Serielle Formationen, Studio Galerie, J.W. Goethe Universitas, Frankfurt, West Germany
Sculpture ’67, City Hall, Toronto, organized by the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Structural Art, American Federation of Art, Travelling Exhibit. Organized by Lucy Lippard.
1967
  
Bladen, Grosvenor, von Schlegell, Loeb Student Center, New York University, New York
American Sculpture of the Sixties, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; traveled to Philadelphia Museum of Art
Rejection Art, University of Omaha Fine Arts Festival, Nebraska
Projects for Macrostructures, Richard Feigen, New York, NY
Sculpture and Architecture, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
Scale Models/Drawings, Dawn Gallery, New York, NY
Guggenheim International Exhibition, 1967: Sculpture from Twenty Nations, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
1967-68
  
Scale as Content: Ronald Bladen, Barett Newman, Tony Smith, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
1968
  
Minimal Art, Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, The Netherlands
4. documenta: Kassel ’68, Museum Fridericianum, Galerie Schöne, Aussicht, and Orangerie Auepark, Kassel, Germany
Annual Exhibition 1968: Sculpture, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Sculpture Annual, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1969
  
Minimal Art, Städtische Kunsthalle and Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
14 Sculptuors: The Industrial Edge, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
1970
  
Ronald Bladen/Robert Murray, Vancouver Art Gallery, British Columbia
American Sculpture, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, The University of Nebraska Art Galleries, Lincoln
Inaugural Exhibit, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, NY
1971
  
Sonsbeek 71, Park Sonsbeek, Arnheim, The Netherlands
1972
  
Visiting Artists: Ronald Bladen and Allan d’Arcangelo, Elvehjem Art Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison
American Drawings, Collection d’Art, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Annemarie Verna Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
1973
  
Biennial Exhibition: Contemporary American Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Works in Spaces: Stephen Antonakos, Ronald Bladen, Sam Gilliam, Robert Irwin, Dorthea Rockburne, San Francisco Museum of Art
Art in Space: Some Turning Points, The Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan
[The City is for People], Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego, California
1974
  
Less is More: The Influence of the Bauhaus on American Art, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florda
Outdoor Sculpture 1974, Merriewold West Gallery, Far Hills, New Jersey [Competition Exhibition], Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida
1975
  
Monumental Sculpture in the 1970’s for Civic, Private and Corporate Places, Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, Texas
Ronald Bladen, Ernest Briggs, Judy Rifka, Stuart Shedlesky, Susan Caldwell Gallery, New York
The Martha Jackson Collection at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Contemporary Drawing, Ben Shahn Gallery, William Paterson College of New Jersey, Wayne
Competition Exhibition, Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida; New York Cultural Center, NY
The Herbert and Dorothy Vogel Collection, The Clocktower Institute for Art and Urban Resources, New York, NY
1976
  
200 Years of American Sculpture, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
The Golden Door: Artist-Immigrants of America, 1876-1976, Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
Nine Sculptors, Nassau County Museum, Long Island, New York; P.S. 1 Institute for Art and Urban Resources, New York, NY
PARC Exhibit, City University of New York, Graduate Center Mall, NY
1977
  
Project: New Urban Monuments, Akron Art Institute, Ohio
Ronald Bladen: 3 Outdoor Sculpture Proposals, Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York
Sculptor’s Drawings, John Weber Gallery, New York, NY
Maquettes for Large Sculpture, Monique Knowlton Gallery New York, NY
1979
  
Sculpture: Bladen, Kipp, Witkin, Ben Shahn Gallery, William Paterson College of New Jersey, Wayne
1980
  
10 Abstract Sculptures: American and European, 1940–1980, Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York
International Sculpture Conference, Washington, DC
Arte American Contemporanea, Civici Museo e Gallerie di Storia e Arte, Udine, Italy
1981
  
Ronald Bladen, Michael Goldberg, Vincent Longo, Adam L. Gimbel Gallery, New York, NY
The Modern Room, Emily Carr Gallery of the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, Vancouver
1982
  
CAPS Benefit Show, New York, NY
Sculpture Now: Contemporary American Sculpture, Park West Gallery, Michigan
Skowhegan Faculty Show, Colby College, Waterville, Maine
1983
  
Sculpture: The Tradition in Steel, Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn Harbor, New York
Beyond the Plane: American Constructions, 1930-1965, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton
Artist Call, Leo Castelli Galery, New York, NY
Museum of Drawers, Travelling Exhibit. Europe, Israel and the United States.
1984
  
Contemporary Painting, Sculpture, Drawing V., Oil and Steel Gallery, New York
Drawings by Sculptors, collection of John E. Seagram and Sons, Inc., New York, NY; La Musee des Beaux Arts de Montreal, Canada
The Ways of Wood, Queens College, New York, NY
1985
  
Matter and Spirit, Suzzane Lemberg Usdan Gallery, Bennington College, Vermont
Ontogeny: Sculpture and Paintings by the 20th Century American Sculptors, New York Studio School
Preview and Review – Paintings, Drawings and Sculptures, Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
50 at 50 West, 50 West Gallery, New York, NY
Action Precision, Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
1986
  
Sculpture: Ronald Bladen, Jim Clark, Judy Pfaff, Connie Reyes, Sorkin Gallery, New York
Sculpture on the Wall, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut
1987
  
In Scale and Time: Ronald Bladen, Ilya Bolotowsky, Norman Blum, Alan Cote, Bill Jensen, Washburn Gallery, New York
Sculpture, Procter Art Center, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
1987-88
  
Group Exhibition, Saint Peters Church, New York, NY
Works on Paper by Twenty-two American Artists, Travelling Exhibition. China: Beijing Art Institute, Shangai Art Museum, and Hong Kong Arts Festival; Snugharbor Cultural Center, New York, NY
1988
  
Envoys, New York Studio School
1988-89
  
Past/Present, Washburn Gallery, New York
1991
  
Circa 1960, Washburn Gallery, New York
1993
  
Fantastic Wanderings, Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut
1995
  
The Collection Egido Marzona, Palais Liechtenstein, Vienna, Austria
1995-96
  
Beat Culture and the New America: 1950-1965, Whitney Museum, New York, NY. Travelling Exhibition: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; M.H. deYoung Memorial Museum, The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, California.
1996
  
Group Exhibition, John Gibson Gallery, New York, NY
The San Francisco School of Abstract Expressionism, Laguna Art Museum, Los Angeles, California; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
1997
  
Ronald Bladen, Edward Dugmore – Paintings, Lennon, Weinberg, Inc., New York, NY
Sculptures and Drawings, Rosenberg & Kaufman Fine Art Gallery, New York, NY
1998
  
Abstracted Presence, Edward Thorpe Gallery, New York, NY
Power of Abstraction, Eighth Floor Gallery, New York, NY
Sculptors’ Draw, Rosenberg & Kaufman Fine Art Gallery, New York, NY
2004
  
A Minimal Future: Art as Object, 1958-1968, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California
2005
   Sculpture, Danese, New York
 
 

Selected Bibliography
 
1965
  
Ashton, Dore. “3 Centuries of American Painting: New York Commentary.” Studio International 170, no. 868, August 1965, pp. 87-88, ill.
Robins, Corinne. “Six Artists and the New Extended Vision.” Arts Magazine 39, no. 10, September-October 1965, pp. 19-22, ill.
1966
  
Sandler, Irving. “Ronald Bladen: ’…Sensations of a different order…’.” Artforum 5, no. 2, October 1966, pp. 32-35, ill.
Smithson, Robert. “Entropy and the New Monuments.” Artforum 4, no. 10, June 1966, pp. 26-31, ill.
1967
  
Lippard, Lucy R. “Ronald Bladen’s Black Triangle.” Artforum 5, no. 7, March 1967, pp. 26-27, ill.
Perreault, John. “A Minimal Future?: Union-Made.” Arts Magazine 41, no. 5, March 1967, pp. 26, 28-29, ill.
Fried, Michael. “Art and Objecthood.” Artforum 5, no. 10, June 1967, pp.19 & 23.
Mellow, James R. Art International II, no. 2, February 1967, p. 66, ill.
Siegel, Jeanne, Arts Magazine 41, no. 4, February 1967, pp. 56-57, ill.
Waldman, Diane. Art News 65, no. 10, February 1967, p. 10.
1969
  
Pinney, Marguerite. “Top Canadian Sculptors to have Major Show Here.” Vancouver Province, January 29, 1969.
Reise, Barbara. “’Untitled, 1969’: A Footnote on art and Minimal-Stylehood.” Studio International 177, no. 910, April 1969, pp.166, 171-172, 178, ill.
1970
  
Kline, Katherine. Art News 68, no. 10, February 1970, p. 14.
Nemser, Cindy. Arts Magazine 44, no. 4, February 1970, p. 64.
Pincus-Witten, Robert. Artforum 8, no. 7, March 1970, p. 81, ill.
Vinklers, Bitite. Art International 14, no. 3, March 1970, pp. 93-94, ill.
“Major Bladen and Murray Exhibit.” Artweek I, no. 12, March 21, 1970, p. 3.
1971
  
Domingo, Willis. Arts Magazine 45, no. 8, Summer 1971, pp. 52-53, ill.
Henry, Gerrit. Art International 15, no. 5, June 1971, pp. 81-82, ill.
Linville, Kasha. Artforum 9, no. 10, June 1971, pp. 86-87, ill.
Wolmer, Bruce. Art News 70, no. 4, Summer 1971, pp. 10-11, ill.
1972
  
Schjeldahl, Peter. The New York Times, January 23, 1972, sec. 2, p. 21, ill.
Henry, Gerrit. Art News, 70, no. 10, February 1972, pp. 12-13.
Wolmer, Denise. Arts Magazine, 46, no. 4, February 1972, p. 57.
Ratcliff, Carter. Art International 16, no. 3, March 1972.
Jürgen-Fischer, Klaus. “Ronald Bladen.” Kunstwerk 25, no. 2, March 1972, pp. 16-21, ill.
Schwartz, Barbara. Craft Horizons 32, no. 2, April 1972.
Baker, Kenneth. “Ronald Bladen.” Artforum 10, no. 8, April 1972, pp. 79-80, ill.
Bell, Jane. Arts Magazine 47, no. 3, December 1972/January 1973, pp. 78-79, ill.
Henry, Gerrit. Art News 71, no. 8, December 1972, p. 73.
1973
  
Kingsley, April. Artforum 11, no. 6, Feburary 1973, p. 89, ill.
Welish, Marjorie. Art International 17, no. 1, January, 1973, p. 74.
1974
  
Kingsley, April. “Ronald Bladen-Romantic Formalist.” Art International 18, no. 7, September 1974, pp. 42-44, ill.
1977
   Glueck, Grace. The New York Times, December 30, 1977, sec. C, p. 24, ill.
Kingsley, April. “Art for All.” Village Voice, December 12, 1977, p. 86.
1978
   Hess, Thomas B. New York, January 9, 1978, p. 58, ill.
Kingsley, April. Village Voice, February 23, 1978, p. 64.
1980
   Cohen, Ronny H. Artforum 9, no. 11, September 1980, pp. 72-73, ill.
1982
   Glueck, Grace. “Artist’s Artists.” Art News 81, no. 9, November 1982, p. 90, ill. Statement by Louise Bourgeois on Ron Bladen.
1986
   Brenson, Michael. The New York Times, February 7, 1986, sec. 2, p. 2, ill.
Sorkin, Emily. “The Schulpture of Ronald Bladen.” Arts Magazine.
McDonnell, Joseph. Art/World, vol. 10, no. 5, February 1986, pp. 1-2.
Masters, Greg. Arts. 60, no. 7, March 1986, p. 139, ill.
Cohen, Ronny. “From X to Now.” ARTforum 24, no. 9, May 1986, pp. 100-101, ill.
1987
   Ellis, Stephen. “Expanded Pictograms,” Art in America 75, no. 4, April 1987, pp. 204-9, ill.
1988
   Gibson, Eric. “In Rememberance.” Sculpture 7, no. 3, May – June 1988, pp. 34-35, ill.
Glueck, Grace. The New York Times, February 4, 1988, sec. B 16. Obituary
Brandon Sun (Brandon Manitoba), February 6, 1988. Obituary.
Bladen, Barbara. “Sculptors Death Stirs Up Glow,” The New York Times, February 8, 1988, p. C 9.
Brenson, Michael. Review, The New York Times, March 4, 1988.
Rubinstein, Meyer and Daniel Wiener. Review, Flash Art, May-June 1988, p. 103, ill.
Gibson, Eric. “In Rememberance,” Sculpture, May-June 1988, pp. 34-35, ill.
1989
   Smith, Roberta. Review, The New York Times, February 24, 1989.
Larson, Kay. Review, New York Magazine, February 27, 1989, p. 150.
Smith, Robarta. “From the 50’s, A Series of Brushes with Greatness,” The New York Times, March 19, 1989.
Yau, John. “A Month of Valentines,” Cover, Februrary 1989.
Kuspit, Donald. Review, ARTforum. May 1989, p.149, ill.
Westfall, Stephen. Review, Art in America, July 1989.
1990
   Yau, John. Review, ARTforum. Summer 1990, p. 61.
1991
   Ronald Bladen: Early and Late, exhibition catalog, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. (curator: Bill Berkson)
Baker, Kenneth. “Several Visions of Ronald Bladen.” Datebook, June 9, 1991.
Crohn, Jennifer. Review, Arts Magazine, November 1991, p. 89, ill.
1992
   Berkson, Bill. “Bladen: Against Gravity.” Art in America, January 1992, pp. 80-85, ill.
1995
   Ronald Bladen: Early and Late, exhibition catalog, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. (curator: Douglas Dreishpoon)
1996
   “Report from San Francisco; Bay Area Bravura.” Art in America, September 1996, pp. 45-47, ill.
Cotter, Holland. “Warm Minimalism Rooted in Poetry,” The New York Times, November 1, 1996, ill.
Knight, Christopher. “An Enlightening Show of Abstract Expressionism.” The New York Times, February 2, 1996, ill.
1998
   Ronald Bladen: Sculpture, exhibition catalog, Kunsthalle Bielfeld. (curator:Thomas Kellein)
Bell, J. Bower. “Abstracted Presence,” Review, February 1, 1998, p. 43.
“Ronald Bladen erstmals in Europa,” Neue Westfalische, June 16, 1998.
“Metergobe Minimal Plastiken,” Neue Westfalische, June 6, 998.
“Westfalen-Blatt,” Kultur, June 5, 1998.
“Kunstwerke von Ronald Bladen fur Kunsthalle – Suggestive Skulpturen,” Neue Westfalische, May 29, 1998.
“Premiee in der Kunsthalle,” Neue Westfalische – Westfalen-Blatt, May 28, 1998.
“Dramaturgie der Kraft,” Der Kunsthandel, Lg. 90 (1998), Nr. 7, July 7, 1998.
“Leer-Stoff – Bladen and Demand in Der Kunsthalle,” Ultimo, July 8, 1998, ill.
“Dominaz und Asthetic der reinen geometrischen Form,” Kultur/NRM, July 1998, ill.
Kunstwerke von Ronald Bladen fur Kunsthalle, Suggestive Skulturen, Kultur/NRW, July 1998, ill.
“Zeitgenossche Kunst,” Feuilleton, August 1, 1998.
“Extreme Bezuge,” Kultur, August 24, 1998.
“Der Verfremdete Raum-Skultpuren von Ronald Bladen un Fotos von Thomas Demond in der Bielefelder Kunsthalle,” Bielefeld Journal, Herbst 1998, pp. 32-33, September 4, 1998.
1999
   Johnson, Ken. “A Romantic Pushes Minimalism to the Maximum,” The New York Times, February 19, 1999, ill.
Schwendencer, M. “Minimal to the Max, P.S. 1 Reveals the Romantic Behind the Rational Art of Ronald Bladen,” Time Out, New York, March 18-25, 1999.
Stevens, Mark. “Maximal Minimalist,” New York Magazine, March 8, 1999, ill.
Meyer, James. “Ronald Bladen: P.S. 1 Contemporary Arts Center, New York,” ARTforum, May 1999, p. 174, ill.
2004
   Kipling, Kay. “More than Minimal: a Selby Gallery exhibition this month sheds new light on the diverse and often dramatic work of the late Ronald Bladen,” Sarasota Magazine, February 1. 2004, ill.
Jenkins, Susan L. “Ronald Bladen.” In A Minimal Future? Art as Object 1958-1968. Ed. Anne Goldstein. Los Angeles, CA: The Museum of Contemporary Art & Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2004. 172-75, ill.
2005
   Sheets, Hilarie M. “Underrated Overrated: Which artists have been overlooked? And which have we been looking at too much?” ARTnews, January 2005, pp. 100-109, ill.
   
 

Public Collections
   
  Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, New York
  Boston Federal Reserve Bank, Massachusetts
  City Hall, Springfield, Ohio
  J. Patrick Lannan Foundation, Palm Beach, Florida
  Lannan Foundation, Los Angeles, California
  Albert A. List Foundation, New York
  The Marine Midland Bank, Buffalo, New York
  The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina
  Peoria Civic Center, Illinois
  San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California
  Schmaeler Gallery, Dusseldorf, West Germany
  Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., New York
  King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  Social Security Building, Baltimore, Maryland
  State of New York, Albany South Mall, New York
  Henry Wallace Agricultural Building, Des Moines, Iowa
  Newark Museum, New Jersey
  Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California
  Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts
  Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, North Carolina
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