C O L M  R O W A N  F I N E  A R T

          The American painter, Ben Georgia, born in Jersey City, NJ in 1941 is in a direct line from the group of artists known as the Irascibles, abstract expressionist painters that included Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Hans Hoffman, and Adolph Gottlieb. In 1950, these painters  along with twelve others and a further ten sculptors put their names to an open letter to Roland Redmond, president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the letter, they rejected an art exhibition planned for the Metropolitan Museum later that year on the grounds that 'a just proportion of advanced art' would not be included in the exhibition. The letter dated May 20th, 1950 became, perhaps, the single most important letter in the history of American art and it set in motion a train of events that paved the way for the rise of abstract expressionism in America. In 1969, Theodoras Stamos, one of the Irascibles and a signatory to the letter, became Ben Georgia's teacher at Columbia University and later at the Art Students' League from 1970 to 1975. 

 

          Ben Georgia's roots lie in the abstract expressionist movement. The importance he places on color and abstract form and light lends a meditative, poetic quality to his art. National and international exhibitions of his works have been held at The Salmagundi Club, NYC; The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT; Rutgers University, NJ; and Andre Zarre Gallery, Brussels, Belgium. His paintings are widely esteemed and are found in important corporate and private collections including those of Jack Welch, retired Chairman & CEO of General Electric: Abigail Johnson, Fidelity Funds; Pfizer Corporation, NYC; and Ricoh Corporation, West Caldwell, NJ.

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          Ben Georgia maintains studios in West Orange, NJ; Lake Worth, FL; and in Eastport, Maine.