Adele Plotkin
(1931-2013)
"Winter in Venice," 1959
Oil on canvas
Signed lower right: A Plotkin; signed again and titled in pencil, possibly in another hand, on the stretcher; dated and numbered, verso: 9
36" H x 28" W

Other Notes: Adele Plotkin was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1931 and received a BA and MA in Fine Arts from Yale University under the tutelage of abstract artist Josef Albers, who was head of Yale’s Department of Design. Plotkin went on to complete a post-graduate scholarship in Venice, Italy, where she became acquainted with the modernist Venetian painters Emilio Vedova and Tancredi Parmeggiani. Upon renewal of her scholarship, Plotkin relocated to Rome where she held her first exhibition at Schneider Gallery in 1970 and married philologist Carlo Ferdinando Russo, son of literary critic Luigi Russo. Subsequently, the couple relocated to Bari where Plotkin took a teaching position at the Academy of Fine Arts, a position she held until 1996, and pioneered the course “Psychology of Form.” Her works explore the concepts of perception, interpretation, and meaning.

During Plotkin’s studies at Yale in the 1950s, the dialectical synthesis of burgeoning post-structuralist theory and psychology was at the forefront of developing research in visual studies and how visual perception operates within the arts. One of the most notable conceptual influences on Plotkin’s work at this time, and among her Yale cohort, were the writings of German theorist Rudolf Arnheim and his 1954 book "Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye." Arnheim expanded on the post-structuralist foundations of Gestalt psychology to explore the connection between human perception and our configuration of reality. To Arnheim, the human experience of reality is only accessible through the sensory experience—perception is akin to thinking and, consequently, artistic expression is a form of reasoned thought.

A central Gestaltian concept expressed in Plotkin’s work is the relationship between the “whole” and the individual parts that constitute it. Clemente Francavilla, a leading scholar of Plotkin and of Arnhem’s influence on her work, suggests how “the way in which the figural elements interact with each other and with respect to the field, the visual balance, the spatial value of the color, the phenomenal superimposition, and in general, the rules of visual organization” culminate in Plotkin’s work to produce a continuous whole. Moreover, Francavilla explains that Plotkin never disassociated her art from her role as a teacher and the innate didactic quality of her work is ever-present.

As seen in our works "Roman Shadows" (1958) and "Winter in Venice" (1959), Plotkin’s works reject identifiable signs, symbols, and forms that would otherwise guide or influence the interpretive experience through personal and individualistic meanings. Rather, her non-objective works provoke multivalent readings rich in polysemous meanings predicated on the subjective intelligibility of the viewer and play with the relationship between the viewer and what is viewed. To date, with a reputation primarily established in Europe,these lots provide the opportunity to consider two rare examples of the artist’s early expressionist work from a private American collection.

Plotkin passed away in June 2013. Recent scholarship on Plotkin includes Clemente Francavilla‘s book "Theory of Visual Perception and Psychology of Form," published by Schena Editore in 1997, and a joint retrospective exhibit exploring her works from 1962–1980 and 1983–2013 held from November 5–18, 2013 at the BLUorg Gallery and the Museo Nuova Era in Bari, organized by Giuseppe Bellini and Rosemarie Sansonetti, respectively.

Condition: Overall good condition. Dust accumulation and grime commensurate with age. A pea-sized puncture hole in the teal pigment near the lower edge, at center. A 1" surface abrasion line with attendant pigment loss in the upper edge, at right.

Blacklight: No evidence of restoration

Frame: 36" H x 28" W x 1.25" D Condition reports are offered as a courtesy and are typically published in Moran's catalogue or can be made available upon request. The absence of a condition report does not imply that an item is free from defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of others. Buyers are responsible for determining to their own satisfaction the true nature and condition of any lot prior to bidding. Though buyers are not legally required to inspect lots prior to purchase, failure to do so may constitute a waiver of complaint that an item was not delivered in a condition equal to the existent condition at the auction.