Event Description
Exhibition from April 27, 2015 through August 7, 2015. In the 1920s, the Romanian-born, Montreal-educated Gershon Benjamin arrived in New York City, and was soon befriended by a group of progressive artists who favored European modernism to the popular American Scene and Regionalist art of the day. Milton Avery was a member of this group, and he and Benjamin became close and life-long friends. Their circle included Rothko, Gottlieb, Gorky, Sloan and the Soyer brothers, among others. Exhibiting together, they were labeled "expressionists" and praised for their individualistic style and use of color. The Rincliffe Gallery show featured more than 60 works by the artist – portraits, still lifes, landscapes and city scenes – in oil and watercolor, representing all periods of Benjamin’s prolific seven-decade career.
It is not a coincidence that the Gershon Benjamin exhibition was hosted by The Drexel Collection. Alumna Joan Facey ’58, of the College of Engineering, found The Drexel Collection to be a source of rejuvenation and would often take short respites in the Anthony J. Drexel Picture Gallery to recover from the burdens of a rigorous course load and immerse herself in the beauty of the artwork. Now chair of the Gershon Benjamin Foundation, this Drexel alumna saw an opportunity to share the exhilarating work of this important twentieth-century American Modernist painter in a similar Drexel University venue where it can be enjoyed by the community and, most pointedly, by the students.
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