Last Paintings

Paul Georges and Gregory Gillespie on View at Salander-O’Reilly Galleries

NEW YORK CITY – Salander-O’Reilly Galleries is presenting its sixth annual exhibition of paintings by Paul Georges (1923-2002) titled, “Last Paintings,” the final body of work that Georges completed before his death in May of 2002 in Normandy, France. The gallery is also presenting works by the American figurative painter Gregory Gillespie (1936-2000). Both exhibits run through March 29.

Georges was part of a generation of postwar figurative painters in New York that included Fairfield Porter, Le-land Bell, Robert DeNiro, Paul Resika and Phillip Perstein, among others. Many of them studied with Hans Hofmann in Provincetown and New York as Georges did briefly in 1947. Georges was an influential teacher and mentor to the next generation of representational painters.

In his lifetime Georges had more than 60 solo shows and received numerous grants and awards, such as The Andrew Carnegie Prize and a Pollack-Krasner Foundation Grant. He was made Academician of the National Academy of Design in 1986.

There is a catalog available with essay by Rhonda Lieberman.

Salander-O’Reilly Galleries now exclusively represents the estate of Gregory Gillespie. Its first exhibition is titled “Gregory Gillespie: Small Paintings.”

Gillespie has been a singular figure in contemporary American art since becoming known for his paintings of Rome in the late 1960s. He is renowned for both his accomplished realist technique and the depth and intensity of his imagery. In 1999 he was the subject of a traveling retrospective organized by the Georgia Museum of Art.

This exhibition presents small paintings on panels by Gillespie primarily from the 1990s, the last decade of his life. In these paintings one can see the breadth and diversity of Gillespie’s extreme and original vision. The works include Gillespie’s trademark self portraits, views of his suburban family life and images derived from Indian tantric painting, Mughal miniatures, Breughel and American Luminist painting.

Gillespie won many awards, grants and accolades during his lifetime including: a Chester Dale Fellowship, a Fulbright-Hays Grant and a Tiffany Foundation Grant. His works may be found in numerous private and public collections such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Hirshhorn Museum at the Smithsonian and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Salander-O’Reilly Galleries is at 20 East 79th Street. For information, 212-879-6606.