Lorem ipsum dolor, 2019
B. COVINGTON, KENTUCKY, 1920
D. SAGAPONACK, NEW YORK, 2015
Sydney Butchkes was celebrated as an artist, graphic designer, and art director. Settled in Sagaponack since the 1960’s, Butchkes became deeply embedded in the art scene of the Hamptons where he continued to work out of his converted barn throughout his life. Concerned with Art at a young age, he came to New York and studied at the Art Students League and the New School before fighting in World War II. After returning from the war, Butchkes first made a name for himself working for Columbia Records as a designer and illustrating iconic book covers, gaining prestige and eventually becoming the Art Director of Craft Horizons. Involved with the Avant-Garde scene in New York, Butchkes experimented across a variety of media, even participating in Monday, May 2, 1960: A Program of Happenings? Events! & Situations at The Pratt Institute alongside George Brecht, Alan Kaprow, and others.
As a visual artist, Butchkes’ work was marked by a deep understanding of composition and form, often working with modular canvases characterized by either crisp geometric forms in three dimensions or hazy gradients. Reacting to Abstract Expressionism, Butchkes was focused on getting away from illusionistic space and working with physical three dimensionality in painting.
His success was marked by participation in significant shows such as Painting Without a Brush (1965) at the ICA Boston with an impressive roster including Jackson Pollock, Morris Louis, and Andy Warhol and the historic Listening to Pictures (1968) at the Brooklyn Museum of Art with other contemporary artists of the museum’s permanent collection including Tony Smith and Yayoi Kusama. During his career, Butchkes regularly showed with Arlene Bujese and Elaine Benson Gallery in the Hamptons to much critical acclaim. In addition to his inclusion in important gallery and museum shows, Butchkes’ work is held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum, and several other institutions.
Sydney Butchkes (1920-2015)
Untitled (#545), 1980
acrylic and charcoal on canvas
47h x 47w in
119.38h x 119.38w cm
SBUT143
Sydney Butchkes (1920-2015)
Untitled (#562), 1980
acrylic on three joined canvases
60h x 62w in
152.40h x 157.48w cm
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Sydney Butchkes (1920-2015)
Untitled (#585), 1981
acrylic and charcoal on canvas
54h x 54w in
137.16h x 137.16w cm
SBUT025
Sydney Butchkes (1920-2015)
Untitled (#285), 1966
acrylic on shaped canvas
42h x 68w in
106.68h x 172.72w cm
SBUT017
Sydney Butchkes (1920-2015)
Square Shadow, 1997
wood and painted wood
17h x 17w in
43.18h x 43.18w cm
SBUT086
Sydney Butchkes (1920-2015)
Squared Off #811, 1997
wood and paint
16 1/4h x 16 1/4w in
41.28h x 41.28w cm
SBUT089
Sydney Butchkes (1920-2015)
Untitled #844, 1998
wood and paint
19 1/4h x 13w in
48.90h x 33.02w cm
SBUT088
It has been some years since Sydney Butchkes’s art was displayed regularly in galleries, but for decades, in the heyday of the Elaine Benson Gallery in Bridgehampton and in Arlene Bujese’s eponymous space here, his work, including paintings, sculpture, prints, and drawings, was often viewed and reviewed.
