Goldenrod

Jane Freilicher (1924-2014) is a renowned New York painter known for her cityscapes, landscapes, and still life. Her style bridges realism and abstract expressionism and has been described as a “painterly realism,” and she works in traditional medium of oil on canvas and linen and fine art prints including lithographs and monotypes. Her mastery of color is a pillar of her work, and combined with her sophisticated technique, her work radiates aliveness, fluidity, and movement - inviting the viewer into a dreamy reality within the canvas. 
 
The lithograph Goldenrod luxuriates in the intense yellow of a field of goldenrod in late summer. The artist had a studio in Manhattan and in Walter Mill on Long Island. The scene in Goldenrod is from her studio on Long Island.
 
Freilicher was a catalytic and consequential presence to her important circle of New York artists which included Larry Rivers, Grace Hartigan, Fairfield Porter and Helen Frankenthaler.

Freilicher's papers, including poetry and photographs, of her relationship with New York School writers and artists are now owned by the Houghton Library of Harvard University.

Freilicher received her MA from Columbia University in 1948. In the 1950s, she was an active member of The New York School, an informal group of artists, poets, musicians, and dancers who innovated their crafts with contemporary and avant-garde approaches. Her work has been collected by major institutions such as The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She has received numerous awards including The Gold Medal in Painting from The Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, (their highest honor), The Academy of the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award from Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, New York and The National Academy of Design Saltus Gold Medal, New York.