Description

Michael Loew started his art career painting portraits and depictions of urban life.  But after serving in the Navy during World War II, he lost interest in representational work and moved full-tilt to abstractionism.  He then spent the next forty years teaching and painting abstract works.

This watercolor shows Loew at his best.  His use of colors across the palette—dark and brooding and soft and pastel—creates evocative and compelling works.  Loew is one of few abstractionists who paint abstractions of real items, though that is not always entirely clear to the viewer.

This watercolor was painted on hand-made J Whatman paper. J Whatman is widely considered to be the best handmade paper ever made. J Whatman ceased making handmade paper in the mid-1950s. The paper on which Loew painted this picture on paper which probably came from coveted stocks remaining of Whatman’s paper and suggests that our estimated date of ca. 1970 may in fact be later than actual date.

Loew is a blue chip artist with superb credentials and an enduring legacy for good reason.

Loew’s work is held in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and The Hirshhorn, and many others.