Artist and educator Aaron Siskind (1903-1991)holds a preeminent place in the history of American photography. He was the only photographic member of the American Abstract-Expressionist movement, drawing inspiration and inspiring notable modern painters such as Willem DeKooning Barnett Newman and Franz Kline. During the 1930s, Siskind was interested in documenting the pressing social conditions of his time. It was not until after an exploration of the external world had been exhausted, that he began using the outside world as a means of internal self-exploration –harnessing the associative powers of his vernacular objects. Siskind focused on the formal relationship between light, structure and texture, exploring ideas of decay and regeneration. His practice was an overtly straightforward technique of isolating and enlarging everyday subject matter, creating conceptual metaphors with new purpose and meaning. The artist ultimately radicalized the medium by pinpointing photography’s potential as an abstract form of expression and an aesthetic end in itself.
Aaron Siskind was born in New York in 1903. He taught high school English for over two decades before began his photography career as a documentarian in the New York Photo League. In 1951, Siskind went on to teach at the Institute of Design in Chicago and later on the Rhode Island School of Design. He was also involved in the founding of the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester with Nathan Lyons. He died in Providence in 1991 at the age of 87. The artist received many distinguished awards including a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a Gold Star Merit Award from Philadelphia College of Art, a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and Rhode Island’s Governer Prize for the Arts. Bruce Silverstein has organized three major shows of his work since 2001, and is the exclusive representative of the Aaron Siskind Foundation, which maintains Siskind’s legacy by providing annual grants encouraging and celebrating artistic achievement in contemporary photography.
Between 1947 and 1951, Siskind exhibited regularly at the prestigious Charles Egan Gallery alongside many well-known painters of the period. Numerous posthumous exhibitions have been organized worldwide. Such institutions are amongst others, the Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.; Cleveland Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Whitney Museum of Art, New York; and the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson.
Work by Aaron Siskind is held in museum collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago; Center for Creative Photography, Tucson; Getty Center, Los Angeles; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego; National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
Siskind published several important books and catalogues, and seven major monographs such as Places: Aaron Siskind Photographs (1976), Harlem Document, Photographs 1932-1940: Aaron Siskind (1981), Aaron Siskind: Pleasures and Terrors (1982), and Song of The Open Road (1990).
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EXHIBITION REVIEW: REWIND: 20TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW
Emily Capone, Musée: Vanguard of Photography Culture, January 10, 2022 -
AARON SISKIND FOUNDATION TRANSFERS 8,000-WORK COLLECTION TO VIRGINIA'S MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
Artforum, January 20, 2020 -
THE BARNETT AND ANNALEE NEWMAN FOUNDATION GIVES ART AND $10 MILLION TO THE JEWISH MUSEUM
Broadway World, June 12, 2018 -
SHAPE OF LIGHT: 100 YEARS OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND ABSTRACT ART
Tate, April 30, 2018 -
AARON SISKIND: LEAP BEFORE YOU LOOK: BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE 1933–1957
Richard Deming, Artforum, March 1, 2017 -
BARBARA MORGAN, AARON SISKIND, FREDERICK SOMMER
Royal Academy, September 24, 2016 -
AARON SISKIND AT THE DAVIS MUSEUM OF ART
The Davis Museum of Art, September 15, 2016 -
REVIEW BY L'OEIL DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE Songs and the Sky
The Eye of Photography, May 30, 2016 -
AARON SISKIND, FREDERICK SOMMER, AND KEITH SMITH AT MORGAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
The Morgan Library, March 25, 2016 -
AARON SISKIND: ABSTRACTIONS
Art Institute of Chicago , March 16, 2016 -
NYU TISCH SCHOOL OF ART: AARON SISKIND & LISETTE MODEL
NYU Tisch, July 31, 2015 -
AARON SISKIND AT PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART
Philadelphia Museum of Art, June 17, 2015 -
AARON SISKIND AT PAVILION POPULAIRE
Montpellier, November 28, 2014 -
ANDRÉ KERTÉSZ AND AARON SISKIND AT THE NASHER MUSEUM OF ART
Nasher Museum, February 14, 2013 -
AARON SISKIND AT THE VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, January 12, 2013
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20th Anniversary Exhibition
REWIND 16 Dec 2021 - 19 Feb 2022 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to announce REWIND, a celebration of our 20th anniversary. Featuring works selected from over one hundred exhibitions, REWIND is an opportunity to revisit the gallery's...Read more -
Drawing the Line
11 Jul - 30 Aug 2019 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to announce a group exhibition featuring works by Harry Callahan, Germaine Krull, Shinichi Maruyama, Barbara Morgan, Sigmar Polke, Man Ray, Aaron Siskind, Keith A. Smith,...Read more -
Monochrome
20 Jan - 4 Mar 2017 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present MONOCHROME, an exhibition including works by Alfred Leslie, Barbara Morgan, Louise Nevelson, Man Ray, Aaron Siskind, Frederick Sommer and John Wood.Read more -
Songs and the Sky
An Exhibition of Art and Music 28 Apr - 25 Jun 2016 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present Songs and the Sky, an exhibition of art and music.Read more -
Inscribed
10 Dec 2015 - 23 Jan 2016 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein / 20 is pleased to present Inscribed.Read more -
Remnants
Louise Nevelson and Aaron Siskind 19 Sep - 2 Nov 2013 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein is pleased to present, Remnants: Louise Nevelson & Aaron Siskind, an exhibition featuring sculptures by Nevelson and photographs by Siskind displayed in conversation. The exhibition focuses on...Read more -
DISCOVERIES
A special selection of extraordinary photographs from the gallery's private inventory 8 Jul - 6 Aug 2010 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to announce DISCOVERIES, an exhibition featuring an eclectic selection of rare and noteworthy works by 35 known and lesser-known artists from the 20 th century.Read more -
Discoveries
A special selection of extraordinary photographs from the gallery's private inventory 16 Jun - 8 Aug 2009 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to announce DISCOVERIES, an exhibition featuring an eclectic selection of rare and noteworthy works by lesser-known artists from the 20th century.Read more -
Aaron Siskind
Recurrence 15 Jan - 7 Mar 2009 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein is pleased to announce Aaron Siskind: Recurrence, an exhibition of works exploring the initial development and further evolution of recurring forms, themes, and line-gestures appearing and reappearing throughout...Read more -
Aaron Siskind
Transformation 21 Jun - 31 Aug 2001 Gallery ExhibitionsThe Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to announce the exhibit Aaron Siskind: Transformation.Read more
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The Photography Show Presented by AIPAD
415 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10016 31 Mar - 2 Apr 2023From March 31 - April 2, 2023, Bruce Silverstein Gallery will be exhibiting at The Photography Show presented by AIPAD in Booth # 108; showcasing...Read more -
Frieze Masters
13 - 17 Oct 2021For the tenth anniversary of Frieze Masters, Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present Series and Sequence , an exhibition featuring works spanning the nearly...Read more -
Paris Photo
7 - 10 Nov 2019Works by: Diane Arbus, Eugene Atget, Bill Brandt, Anne Brigman, Harry Callahan, Imogen Cunningham, Louis Draper, Frantisek Drtikol, Elger Esser, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Jaromir...Read more -
AIPAD
4 - 7 Apr 2019Featured artists: Lewis Baltz, Ilse Bing, Constantin Brâncuși, Bill Brandt, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Imogen Cunningham, F. Holland Day, Frantisek Drtikol, Pierre Dubreuil, Walker...Read more -
Frieze Masters
4 - 7 Oct 2018Featured artists: Diane Arbus, John Baldessari, Constantin Brâncuși, Bill Brandt, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Henri Cartier-Bresson, F. Holland Day, František Drtikol, William Eggleston, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Robert...Read more -
The Photography Show
Presented by AIPAD 5 - 8 Apr 2018Featured Artists: Werner Bischof, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Constantin Brâncuși, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Mark Cohen, Elliot Erwitt, Walker Evans, Mishka Henner, Todd Hido, André Kertész, Dorthea Lange,...Read more -
The Armory Show
8 - 11 Mar 2018Featured Artists: Bernd & Hilla Becher, Constantin Brâncuși, Todd Hido, André Kertész, Alfred Leslie, Louise Nevelson, Man Ray, Gerhard Richter, Ed Ruscha, Cindy Sherman, Aaron...Read more -
Paris Photo
9 - 12 Nov 2017Featured artists: Bill Brandt, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Constantin Brâncusi, Harry Callahan, Henri Cartier Bresson, F. Holland Day, František Drtikol, Elliot Erwitt, Eric Fischl, Mishka Henner,...Read more -
Frieze Masters
5 - 8 Oct 2017Featured artists: Brassaï, Constantin Brâncusi, Harry Callahan, F. Holland Day, František Drtikol, André Kertész, Alfred Leslie, Rene Magritte, Henry Moore, Barbara Morgan, Man Ray, Aaron...Read more -
The Armory Show
2 - 5 Mar 2017Featured Artists: Constantin Brâncuși, Bill Brandt, Eric Fischl, Mishka Henner, Todd Hido, André Kertész, Alfred Leslie, René Magritte, Shinichi Maruyama. Lisette Model. Max Neumann. Cindy...Read more -
Paris Photo
10 - 13 Nov 2016Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present at Paris Photo an exhibition inspired by one of the cornerstones of modern art, F. Holland Day’s seminal...Read more -
Frieze Masters
6 - 9 Oct 2016Featured artists: Constantin Brancusi, Marie Cosindas, F. Holland Day, André Kertész, Alfred Leslie, László Moholy-Nagy, Paul Outerbridge, Irving Penn, Man Ray, Alexander Rodchenko, Aaron Siskind,...Read more -
The Armory Show
3 - 6 Mar 2016Featured Artists: Irving Penn, Henry Moore, Frederick Sommer, Constantin Brancusi, Shinichi Maruyama, Max Neumann, Eileen Neff, Aaron Siskind, Mishka Henner, André Kertész, Ed Ruscha, Larry...Read more -
Paris Photo
12 - 15 Nov 2015Artists: Ilse Bing, Werner Bischof, Erwin Blumenfeld, Constantin Brancusi, Bill Brandt, Brassai, Anne Brigman, Robert Doisneau, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Robert Heinecken, Mishka...Read more -
Frieze Masters
14 - 18 Oct 2015The gallery is pleased to present a selection of modern photographic masterpieces at Frieze Masters in London from October 14 to 18, 2015. Artists include...Read more