Kitaj, R.B.

Kitaj, R.B.
▪ 2008
Ronald Brooks Kitaj 
      American-born painter

born Oct. 29, 1932, Chagrin Falls, Ohio

died Oct. 21, 2007, Los Angeles, Calif.
mingled the impersonal finish characteristic of Pop art canvases with the loose, painterly brushwork of Abstract Expressionism, but his work differed from that of his Pop contemporaries in his use of complex and allusive figurative imagery, including a wealth of pictorial references to historical, artistic, and literary topics. His semiabstract paintings also feature brightly coloured and imaginatively interpreted human figures portrayed in puzzling and ambiguous relation to one another. Kitaj studied art at the Cooper Union in New York City and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. After working as a merchant seaman and serving (1955–57) in the U.S. Army, he settled in England, where he attended the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Arts and the Royal College of Art in London. Kitaj was associated with the beginnings of the Pop art movement in Great Britain in the early 1960s, and he continued to exhibit widely throughout the '60s and '70s while teaching painting at various British fine arts schools. A 1994 retrospective of his work at the Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain) in London drew harsh criticism, though the exhibition was praised when it was mounted in New York City and Los Angeles. Kitaj's wife died shortly after the Tate retrospective, and in 1997 he moved back to the U.S.

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▪ American-born painter
in full  Ronald Brooks Kitaj 
born , Oct. 29, 1932, Chagrin Falls, near Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
died Oct. 21, 2007, Los Angeles, Calif.

      American-born painter noted for his eclectic and original contributions to Pop art.

      Kitaj studied art at the Cooper Union in New York City and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. After working as a merchant seaman and serving in the U.S. Army (1955–57), he settled in England and studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Arts and at the Royal College of Art in London. Kitaj was associated with the beginnings of the Pop art movement in Great Britain in the early 1960s. His works mingled the impersonal finish characteristic of Pop canvases with the loose, painterly brushwork of Abstract Expressionism but differed from the work of his Pop contemporaries in their complex and allusive figurative imagery. Kitaj's semiabstract paintings feature brightly coloured and imaginatively interpreted human figures portrayed in puzzling and ambiguous relation to one another. His work was highly intellectual in its wealth of pictorial references to historical, artistic, and literary topics. Kitaj continued to exhibit widely throughout the 1960s and '70s while teaching painting at various British fine arts schools.

      A retrospective of Kitaj's work—complete with his explanatory notes on the various paintings—at the Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain) in 1994 drew harsh criticism, though it was praised when exhibited in New York and Los Angeles. Kitaj's wife died shortly after the Tate retrospective, and in 1997 he moved to the United States, where he continued to work.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • KITAJ, R.B. — KITAJ, R.B. (1932– ), U.S. painter and printmaker. Born in Cleveland as Ronald Brooks, Kitaj took his surname from his stepfather, a Viennese refugee from the Nazi regime. From 1956 to 1958 he served in the Army as an illustrator, immediately… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Kitaj —   [ kɪtɑːʒ], Ronald B., eigentlich Ronald Brooks, amerikanischer Maler und Grafiker, * Chagrin Falls (Ohio) 29. 10. 1932; studierte in Wien und Oxford, ab 1960 in London, wo er die englische Pop Art mitprägte. In montageartig angelegten… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Kitaj — Kìtaj m DEFINICIJA arh., v. Kina ETIMOLOGIJA rus. Kitaj: Kina …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Kìtaj — m arh. Kina, {{001f}}{{c=1}}usp. ✧ {{001f}}rus …   Veliki rječnik hrvatskoga jezika

  • Kitaj — Ronald Brooks Kitaj (* 29. Oktober 1932 in Chagrin Falls bei Cleveland, Ohio; † 21. Oktober 2007 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien) war ein US amerikanischer Maler, Grafiker und Zeichner, der sich Ende der 1950er Jahre in England niederließ. Kitaj… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Kitaj, R.B. — (b. 1932)    Anglo American artist. Kitaj was born in Cleveland. He studied art at the Cooper Union Institute in New York, in Vienna, at the Ruskin School in Oxford and at the Royal College of Art. Subsequently he settled in England and is… …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Kitaj, Ronald Brooks — (10/29/1932 Cleveland ) (USA)    Painter and printmaker, Studied at the Cooper Union in New York and the Akademie der bilden den Kunste in Vienna.    Reproductions: His hour; 1975; pastel and charcoal; Smith, 1980: p. 15 / Webb, 1975: p. 423 .… …   Dictionary of erotic artists: painters, sculptors, printmakers, graphic designers and illustrators

  • Kitaj, R(onald) B(rooks) — born Oct. 29, 1932, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, U.S. U.S. born British painter. He studied in New York City, Vienna, Oxford, and London. In the 1960s he was a prominent member of the Pop art movement in Britain. His works mingled the impersonal finish… …   Universalium

  • Kitaj, R(onald) B(rooks) — (n. 29 oct. 1932, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, EE.UU.). Pintor británico de origen estadounidense. Estudió en las ciudades de Nueva York, Viena, Oxford y Londres. En la década de 1960 fue miembro importante del pop art en Gran Bretaña. Sus obras,… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Kitaj, R. B. — (b. 1932)    Amercian painter. He was born in Cleveland and later lived in England. From the 1970s he became concerned with Jewish identity as a conscious and subconscious impulse. His paintings include The Murder of Rosa Luxemburg, The Jew Etc …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

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