SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The George Krevsky Gallery is pleased to announce the second solo exhibition of artworks by Early Modernist, Ruth Gikow. Continuing through September 15th, About People will feature both nationally exhibited and never shown before paintings from the Artist’s estate.

An émigré from Russian Ukraine living in New York’s Lower East Side, Gikow, developed a passion for the developing Modern Art movement when she learned that art was not about the accuracy of the artist’s depiction of the subject, but rather the expression of the subject’s essence. This revelation set the stage for her career and her distinctive, figurative style that further evolved as she studied the works of the Old Masters, the frescoes of Pompeii, and the Byzantine mosaics at Ravenna while traveling in Europe with her fellow artist and husband, Jack Levine.

The 26 paintings exhibited in About People display the artist’s belief in the quest to find humanity amidst the turbulence and hostility of modern urban life, especially for the youth of the 60’s. This belief is conveyed through her bold and mannerly command of saturated color while depicting her subjects in an intimate and contemplative manner, often concentrating on their psychological reactions to an event. Nowhere are these themes more clearly relevant than in Adoration of the Gadget, 1969. In this painting, various people are preoccupied by their cameras, hair dryers, and other electronic devices. Gikow, however, is not praising the rise in home electronics, but is commenting on the captivation of the human mind by that which it does not fully understand.

During her lifetime, Ruth Gikow (1915-1982), commanded critical acclaim that warranted many one-person shows and a considerable following of discerning collectors. She was praised by art critic Henry-Russell Hitchcock for being one of the country’s “ten outstanding women painters,” and was exhibited by the National Institute of Arts & Letters and represented by the Kennedy Galleries of New York. Also during her lifetime Gikow’s paintings were acquired by the collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Whitney Museum of American Art, along with the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, among others. Since her death at the peak of her career in 1982, her artwork remained relatively hidden from public view. Now presented for a second solo exhibition the George Krevsky Gallery continues its commitment to this outstanding artist.