Artist: Diana Kurz

Lincoln Glenn Gallery presents Diana Kurz: A Journey of Discovery, the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York City in nearly 40 years and the first time these works have ever been shown publicly. Dating between 1959 and 1964, this grouping exemplifies Kurz’s desire for exploration and experimentation, and the range of dates indicates a significant period in Diana Kurz’s artistic journey as a New York School artist when she begins to transition from abstraction to her mature figurative style. Kurz’s canvases of this period have a relentless push-pull quality–reeling in the viewer and slyly closing off avenues.

The artist was born in 1936 to Jewish parents in Vienna, and the young family fled for New York in 1940. Kurz’s training as an artist began at Brandeis University where she graduated in 1957, and followed when her grades won her a spot in the tiny studio art MFA program at Columbia University.

Columbia required that she take a year of studio classes and complete BFA credits before joining the MFA program, and while honing her studio chops, Kurz sought a place in Hans Hofmann’s atelier. In the decade to follow, she moved to Downtown New York and established herself in a loft in Soho, soon abandoning abstraction but always dedicated to her process of creation. Her close artistic associations included Philip Guston, Jean Helion, Mercedes Matter, Lois Dodd, Sylvia Sleigh, and Philip Pearlstein.

Our own journey with Diana began nearly a decade ago, when we were introduced to her work and became immediately captivated by her historic pieces—works that had been quietly hidden away for over 60 years. These pieces embody a combination of depth, introspection, and a keen eye for color.