GALLERY
LEO RABKIN WORKED IN WATERCOLOR, WOOD, CANVAS, ROPE, WIRE, CONSTRUCTED PAPER, BOX ASSEMBLAGE AND PLEXIGLASS FROM 1950 TO 2015. HERE IS AN OVERVIEW OF HIS MANY MOODS AND METHODS AS SHOWN BY WORKS IN THE FOUNDATION’S COLLECTION OF LEO’S ART.
All photos © The Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation unless otherwise indicated.
Leo Rabkin lived and worked as an artist in New York City for over sixty years, from 1945 to 2015. He gained prominence in the 1960s and 1970s, for his luminous box sculptures in colored plastics, often combined with mirrors and other metal elements. Rabkin could best be described as a Post-Minimalist, an artist devoted to the materiality and physical beauty of his work while creating an art that is rigorously abstract.
Rabkin’s physical processes are many and they explore a wide range of emotions. He has used: a cloud of powdered watercolor pigment on mulberry paper; sewn passages made with needle and thread; folded paper; ripped canvas and paper; light bulbs; flocking; shredded fibers; a myriad of everyday found materials; hundreds of boxes from the elegant and embossed to lowly cigar boxes and strawberry boxes.
Leo Rabkin exhibited in many of the world’s greatest art museums. He was, however, most delighted when showing his art to an interested viewer, quietly, thoughtfully and in person. In his nineties, he created a flurry of hand-decorated postcards he called “Whims.” Each was unique, some were moody and enigmatic, and he sent them away in the mail to friends and acquaintances worldwide In honor of his spirit of exploration and intimacy, we are happy to share Leo’s work with you.
REQUEST AND APPOINTMENT, OR SCHOOL/GROUP TOUR +
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS:
Museum of Modern Art
New York, NY
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Whitney Museum of American Art
New York, NY
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The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York, NY
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Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn, NY
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The Phoenix Art Museum
Phoenix, AZ
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Cincinnati Art Museum
Cincinnati, OH
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Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Kansas City, MO
(“Trellis,” American Abstract Artists 50th Anniversary Print Portfolio)
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The Rubin Center, University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, Texas
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University of Michigan Museum of Art
ANN ARBOR, MI
(“Trellis,” American Abstract Artists 50th Anniversary Print Portfolio)
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Brown University, David Winton Bell Gallery
Providence, RI
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The Walker Art Center
MINNEAPOLIS, MN
(“TRELLIS,” AMERICAN ABSTRACT ARTISTS 50TH ANNIVERSARY PRINT PORTFOLIO)
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art
NEW YORK, NY
(“TRELLIS,” AMERICAN ABSTRACT ARTISTS 50TH ANNIVERSARY PRINT PORTFOLIO)
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Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick GallerY
WASHINGTON, DC
(“TRELLIS,” AMERICAN ABSTRACT ARTISTS 50TH ANNIVERSARY PRINT PORTFOLIO)
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North Carolina Museum of Art
Raleigh, NC
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Philadelphia Museum of Art
PHILADELPHIA, PA
(“TRELLIS,” AMERICAN ABSTRACT ARTISTS 50TH ANNIVERSARY PRINT PORTFOLIO)