Exhibition spanning 60 years of paintings by John Heliker on view at the Asheville Art Museum
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Tuesday, April 1, 2025


Exhibition spanning 60 years of paintings by John Heliker on view at the Asheville Art Museum
John Heliker, Untitled (Seated Figure, Merce Cunningham), ink on paper, 14 x 10.125 inches. Collection of the Heliker-Lahotan Foundation, Inc.



ASHEVILLE, NC.- John Heliker: The Order of Things charts the career of a significant American artist. Heliker (1909–2000) was an adept draftsman and accomplished painter who developed a highly personal and expressive approach to drawing during the Works Progress Administration (WPA) years. His early drawings and sketches are comparable to those of his contemporaries, including Ben Shahn and Philip Evergood. Heliker shared their political activism and produced many cartoons for publications like the The New Masses. During World War II and the post-war years he also earned critical acclaim for his bold experimentation with biomorphic and gestural abstraction. By the late 1950s he shifted to more representational subject matter, often depicting everyday scenes with great poignancy. As his career progressed, his palette became more muted and he adopted a nuanced, impressionistic painting style in response to Abstract Expressionism.

Born in Yonkers, NY in 1909, Heliker was the grandson of a stonemason and builder. He left high school in 1923 at the age of 15 to pursue art. He studied at the Art Students League in New York City from 1927–1929. The Maynard Walker Gallery gave Heliker his first solo exhibition in 1936 and several more followed. In the 1930s, the artist worked on the easel division of the WPA Federal Art Project and also made drawings for The New Masses journal. After the Maynard Walker Gallery closed in 1941, Heliker joined the Kraushaar Galleries and exhibited there for more than 50 years. In 1958, Heliker purchased an old sea captain’s house on Great Cranberry Island in Maine. He spent summers there with his partner, painter Robert LaHotan. The compound is now home to the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation and a residency program for artists has been established there.

Heliker played a critical role in the artistic and cultural life of New York City for more than six decades. His work has been exhibited widely and he was given a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1968. He taught at Columbia University for 27 years and was among the founding faculty of the New York Studio School of Painting and Sculpture. He later joined the MFA Painting Program at the Parsons School of Design.

This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum with special thanks to Patricia Bailey and the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation.










Today's News

April 6, 2015

'All the Rage in Paris: Diaghilev's Ballets Russes' on view at the McNay Art Museum

Exhibition of works from the collection of Arthur and Hedy Hahnloser-Bühler on view at the Hamburger Kunsthalle

First UK solo exhibition in 20 years of work by Leonora Carrington on view at Tate Liverpool

Exhibition offers rare opportunity to see all 60 panels of Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series at MoMA

The century mark: Tel Aviv Museum of Art visits Berlin modern and contemporary art

Year-long season of special exhibitions and programs illuminates visual culture in Israel

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston opens exhibition of works by Katsushika Hokusai

Ford's Theatre commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Lincoln assassination

'David Hockney: Narrative and Imagination' on view at Leslie Sacks Contemporary

'Feeling Van Gogh' makes art accessible for visually impaired visitors

Personal, cultural identity explored in Folk art exhibition at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Christie's to preview highlights from its Spring Sale of Post-War & Contemporary Art in Dallas

Exhibition features the photographs by Jesse Alexander of the Fomula One races from 1954 to 1971

First solo exhibition in a UK public gallery of works by Ellen Altfest opens at MK Gallery

Exhibition spanning 60 years of paintings by John Heliker on view at the Asheville Art Museum

Christie's announces the sale of the collection of the daughter of artist Line Vautrin

First exhibition to be devoted to Charles Rennie Mackintosh's architecture on view in London

Masterpiece in Focus at the National Gallery of Canada: Mary Pratt: This little painting

No Woman, No Cry: A group exhibit featuring women artists opens at Muriel Guépin Gallery

Solo exhibition of the work of conceptual artist Josh Greene on view at the Contemporary Jewish Museum

Deutsche Bank's 'Artist of the Year' 2015 Koki Tanaka opens 'A Vulnerable Narrator'

Sotheby's Hong Kong presents 'Contemporary Literati: Curiosity' during its spring sales 2015

First exhibition to explore the Jewish contribution to Modernism opens in New York




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
(52 8110667640)

Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful