Charlotte Gilbertson

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Charlotte Gilbertson
Charlotte Gilbertson

Charlotte (Bernice) Gilbertson (born: November 11, 1922) is an American painter and print maker. She is a seasonal resident of Harwichport, Cape Cod, MA and Palm Beach, Florida.

Contents

[edit] Artistic Influences

Charlotte's artistic inspirations are rooted in Greek mythology, the French artist Paul Cezanne, Fernand Léger's modern abstractionism, and neo-Primitivist representations of the people of Papua New Guinea.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Childhood and Early Years

Born on Armistice Day, Charlotte is the eldest of four children and the only daughter in her family. Her father was a Methodist minister in the neighborhood of Roslindale, Massachusetts (located near the City of Boston) where her family resided. As a child, her family lived primarily in Roslindale and spent their summers on Cape Cod, MA at their summer residence. Her parents held conventional views about their daughter's development within 1930s society but, as with many women, Charlotte's life took a different path as a result of WWII.

[edit] Post WWII, Paris and the GI Bill (1946 - 1951)

Charlotte enlisted in the Armed Forces during WWII as a psychiatric social worker, stationed on Long Island, New York and in Georgia. After the war, she had access to the G.I. Bill of Rights, as did many of the brave war veterans of her generation. Charlotte used it to promote her education. She graduated from Boston University’s School of Fine Arts in 1948 and then moved to New York to be among notable artists. New York City was brimming over with abstract expressionist painters at the time, but she was more interested in "constructive design" not found in America. Charlotte wanted to develop a stronger sense of "design" in her work, to engage "the new" and "the modern".

In 1949, Charlotte went to Paris on an artistic quest, fascinated by Cézanne's rendering of the Provençal apple. She studied "le dessin" under the French artist Fernand Léger at his Paris atelier. Her study with Léger was important. She found a master and what she sought in Léger. (1) (He jokingly referred to her as "la petite marine", or "the little sailor", because she wore dungarees, which was unusual for a woman at the time). Before studying with Léger, Charlotte could not imagine how Cézanne had painted an object that looked like an apple but was unlike any apple that she had ever seen. After working with him, she developed the insight needed to bring "design" to a canvas.

[edit] The New York Years (1951 - 1979)

Once Charlotte had begun to master a sense of color, space, and design on a canvas, she returned to New York City in 1951, where she lived for several years. Charlotte found employment in an array of diverse positions to sustain herself in New York City. During the winters, she worked; during the summers, she painted. This seasonal cycle of employment and painting lasted from 1951 to 1974 and again from 1977 to 1979. From 1962 to 1974, Charlotte most notably worked as an assistant director and, later, as director of The Alexander Iolas Gallery in New York City. (The gallery no longer exists in Manhattan, but it was primarily known for showing Max Ernst, René Magritte and other Surrealists (2).) Through the Iolas Gallery, Charlotte met and befriended Andy Warhol and appeared in Warhol’s 1963-64 independent film, “Kiss”).

[edit] World Travel and Travels, Interrupted

In 1976, Charlotte took a polar route around the world, following the sun, and spent over a year traveling the world, visiting Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Bali, Burma, India, Nepal, the Middle East, Turkey and Greece. She also revisited much of Europe, including a special trip to the North Cape and a tour of Finland, Sweden and Norway. The Japanese use of iridescent colors and the mountain landscapes of Japan and Bali influenced her paintings during this time. Charlotte’s excursions were curtailed in 1980, when she was needed at home to take care of her parents until their natural deaths.

[edit] World Travels Resumed, New Artistic Influences

In 1990, Charlotte resumed her travels to many other countries, including Belize and Tikal. She also spent a considerable amount of time in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Australia, as well as Bali, India and Nepal. Her explorations in Nepal include treks of the Annapurna Circuit and safaris by elephant in Nepal's Chitwan National Park. She spent time in Tibet, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, ending her journeys in Western Europe with extended time in Paris and London before returning home. Her travels in South Asia significantly influenced her artwork from then onward. In particular, many of her paintings in the 1990s featured neo-Primitivist representations of the people of Papua New Guinea.

[edit] Charlotte Now

Charlotte is still an active painter, working with mixed media and doing small works on paper and canvas. She has done a number of line drawings and a number of series of works on paper. She completed a series of work of her memory-impressions of Papua New Guinea, 50" x 72". She also completed a series of work on wood panels, employing gold leaf and other mixed media.

[edit] Exhibitions

Year Gallery / Exhibition Space Location
1949 Galeria Mai Paris (VI arrondisement - Quartier Latin), France
1960 Burr Gallery New York City
1961 Pratt Institute Gallery New York City
1962 The Free Library of Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA
1964 PVI Gallery New York City
1965 Institute of Contemporary Arts Philadelphia, PA
1966 Fishbach Gallery New York City
1967 Flint College Museum Flint, Michigan
1968-9 Brooklyn Museum Brooklyn, New York
1971 Bodley Gallery New York City
1972 to 1978 Erik Nord Gallery Nantucket, MA
1974 Iolas Gallery New York City
1977 Bodley Gallery II New York City
1878 As You Like It Gallery Palm Beach, Florida
1978 Irving Gallery Palm Beach, Florida
1978 Pace University Gallery New York City
1978 St. Peter's College Gallery Jersey City, New Jersey
1979 Lilley Gallery Harwichport, MA
1979 Holly Daly Herman Palm Beach Gallery Palm Beach, Florida
1980 Galeria Bryna Palm Beach, Florida
1981 Galeria Bryna Palm Beach, Florida
1981 Flagler Musuem, Artinian Collection Palm Beach, Florida
1982 Petite Fleur Gallery Palm Beach, Florida
1983 Rollins College Winter Park, Florida
1984 Foxworth Gallery New York City
1989 Palm Beach National Bank Palm Beach, Florida
1991 Northwood College Gallery West Palm Beach, Florida
1998 Guild of Harwich Artists Harwichport, MA
2000 Eissey Campus Gallery North Palm Beach, Florida

[edit] Professional Associations and Listings

Charlotte Gilbertson was included in Who's Who in America (2002). She is also a lifetime member of the Visual Arts and Galleries Association.

[edit] Notes

[1] In 1952, a pair of Léger murals was installed in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations headquarters in New York, New York. Some of Léger's works are found at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City. In November of 2003, his painting, La femme en rouge et vert, sold for $22,407,500 USD, and his sculptures have been selling in excess of 8 million dollars. (See the entry of Fernand Léger under his legacy).

[2]Opened by the French artist himself, the Alexander Iolas Gallery was located near 15 E. 55th Street in Manhattan, New York City. A host of international expatriate artists and avant-garde artists of the '60s and early '70s were invited to display their work there. Some of these artists include William Copley, Roberto Matta, Edward Ruscha, Niki de Saint Phalle, and Harold Stevenson, a friend of Andy Warhol.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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