Summary |
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| Creator: | Witkin, Jerome. |
| Title: | Jerome Paul Witkin Papers |
| Dates: | 1967-2003 |
| Size: | 1 box and 1 map case drawer (4.5 linear foot) |
| Abstract: | The Jerome Paul Witkin Papers contains materials relating to Witkin's interest in the Holocaust. |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: |
University Archives, Special Collections Research Center Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Ave., Suite 600 Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center/university-archives |
Biography
Jerome Witkin is one of America’s most influential and important figurative painters. Born on September 13, 1939, Witkin grew up in Brooklyn, New York and exhibited great artistic talent even at a young age. Because of this, he enrolled at the High School of Music and Art in New York City when he was fourteen and spent his summers at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. In 1957 Witkin enrolled at the Cooper Union School of Art, from which he graduated in 1960. On a Pulitzer Prize fellowship, he studied at the Berlin Academy in Germany in 1961. Witkin received his MFA in painting from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970.
Because he grew up and attended school in New York City at the height of the abstract expressionist movement, Witkin’s paintings cannot escape the influence of abstract expressionism. However, his work is largely figural, full of energy and life. Witkin’s paintings often portray subjects that resonate strongly with viewers. He has painted large-scale series that deal with the Holocaust and 9/11, as well as individual paintings addressing traumatic events others have experienced. Witkin does not avoid controversial and emotional events in his work.
Along with his personal work, teaching art skills to others has been a large part of Witkin’s life. His first teaching job was at the College of Art at the Maryland Institute in Baltimore in 1961. He also taught at the Manchester College of Art in England, the Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, and in 1971 he was hired as a professor of art by Syracuse University. He taught at the University for over forty years, a testament to his dedication to students.
Throughout his career, Witkin has exhibited his work both nationally and internationally, in solo and group exhibitions. In 2011 the Syracuse University Art Galleries celebrated his fortieth anniversary of teaching at the University with a forty-year retrospective of Witkin’s work. Titled Drawn to Paint, the exhibition focused on the importance Witkin places on drawing as an integral part of his creative process by displaying many of Witkin’s preparatory drawings with the final versions of his paintings.
A number of museums in the United States hold paintings by Witkin in their permanent collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York.
Scope and Content Note
The Jerome Paul Witkin Papers contains seven books about the Holocaust with annotations and drawings added to the text by Witkin, as well as a small selection of notes, a signed poster, and a membership card for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Restrictions
Access Restrictions
Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.
Use Restrictions
Written permission must be obtained from University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries and all relevant rights holders
before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this
collection.
Related Material
In addition to these papers, the Syracuse University Archives holds a clippings file on Jerome Witkin. The SU Art Galleries have a number of paintings, drawings, and prints by Jerome Witkin in their collection. You may visit their website for additional details.
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Jerome Paul Witkin Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
The materials in the Jerome Paul Witkin Papers were donated to the University library and transferred to the Archives in 2003.
Processing Information
The materials have been rehoused in an acid-free box.
Finding Aid Information
Created by: Steffi Chappell
Date: 2014
Revision history: Revised by Meg Mason, 2015