Sandler, Irving, 1925-....

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Irving Sandler has been an American critic and reviewer of contemporary art for five decades.

From the description of Irving Sandler papers, ca. 1950-2000. (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 83459092

Irving Sandler (1925-) was an art critic, art historian, and educator in New York, N.Y.

He was the art critic for ART NEWS, 1956-1962; for the NEW YORK POST, 1960-1965; and an instructor of art history at New York University, 1960-1971. During his career, he was director of the Tanager Gallery and the Club organizations.

From the description of Irving Harry Sandler papers, circa 1944-2007, bulk 1944-1980. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 430380133

Art critic, art historian, and educator; New York, N.Y.

Irving Sandler, b. 1925, was the art critic for ART NEWS, 1956-1962; for the NEW YORK POST, 1960-1965; and an instructor of art history at New York University, 1960-1971. During his career, he was director of the Tanager Gallery and the Club organbizations.

From the description of Irving Harry Sandler papers, circa 1944-2007, bulk 1944-1980. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 233006991

Art critic, art historian, and instructor; New York, N.Y.

Was the art critic for ART NEWS, 1956-1962; for the NEW YORK POST, 1960-1965; and an instructor of art history at New York University, 1960-1971.

From the description of Irving Harry Sandler papers, [ca. 1944-1980]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122404287

Biographical/Historical Note

Irving Sandler was born in New York City in 1925. He holds a B.A. from Temple University (1948) and an M.A. from University of Pennsylvania (1950), where he studied American history. His interests turned then to contemporary art, specifically the abstract expressionist painting current in the 1950s New York art world. He tried his hand at painting for a year or so, and became manager of a gallery on 10th Street, thereby meeting artists he admired. Soon feeling his vocation to be that of chronicler and critic rather than artist, in 1954 Sandler began taking copious notes of conversations with artists, or among artists, during informal gatherings at the Club, the Cedar Street Tavern, or in artists' studios. In 1956, he became the director of the Tanager Gallery, Program Chairman for the Artists' Club, and a reviewer for Art News and Art International, establishing two roles that he would fill for the rest of his career: supporter of emergent artist groups, and advocate critic. A third role, that of professor, emerged in the 1960s.

Sandler's approach to art criticism was, like Greenberg's and Rosenberg's, grounded in personal friendships with artists whose work he reviewed, but Sandler avoided the extreme partisanship and rancor for which those critics are known. Maintaining a personal ethic of openness to new styles or schools of art, and a methodology that considered art world consensus on the one hand and the artist's intention on the other, he flourished as a relevant commentator of contemporary art for five decades. In the 1970s, Sandler began writing books that synthesized his collection of interviews and reviews into broad surveys of contemporary art, including The Triumph of American Painting: A History of Abstract Expressionism (1970), The New York School: The Painters and Sculptors of the Fifties (1978), American Art of the 1960s (1988), and Art of the Postmodern Era: From the Late 1960s to the Early 1990s (1996). In addition, he wrote monographs on individual artists, such as Alex Katz and Mark Di Suvero.

After teaching at New York University throughout the 1960s, Sandler earned a Ph.D. in Art History in 1976; for the rest of his academic career he taught at SUNY Purchase, with occasional visiting professorships at other northeastern U.S. institutions. In 1972, he organized "Artist's Space," an alternative exhibition space for young artists. Laurie Anderson, Judy Pfaff, Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, and Chuck Close are among those that got their start there. He served on the board of, or otherwise lent support to, many other artists' organizations. Eventually, he held influential positions in academic and curatorial organizations as well, such as the College Art Association and Independent Curators Incorporated, and in major foundations supporting the arts, such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the Sharpe Art Foundation. Having a special interest in public art, he served on the board of Public Art Fund, which generated public art projects such as "Sculpture in Environment," "City Walls" and "Prospect Mountain," and was involved in many other public art commissions around the country.

From the guide to the Irving Sandler papers, ca. 1914-2001, 1950-2000, (Getty Research Institute)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Artists Space Archive, 1973 - 2009 Fales Library & Special Collections
creatorOf Ralph M. Rosenborg papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Gerome Kamrowski papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Irving Sandler papers, ca. 1914-2001, bulk 1950-2000 Getty Research Institute
creatorOf Sandler, Irving, 1925-. Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
referencedIn Tanager Gallery records Archives of American Art
creatorOf Sandler, Irving, 1925-. Irving Harry Sandler papers, circa 1944-2007, bulk 1944-1980. Archives of American Art
creatorOf Irving Sandler interviews and papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Ed Colker papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Irving Sandler interviews and papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Sandler, Irving, 1925-. Sandler, Irving: Art World Personality Files. Whitney Museum of American Art, Library
referencedIn Barbara Rose papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Elaine de Kooning papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Sandler, Irving, 1925-. Irving Sandler papers, ca. 1950-2000. Getty Research Institute
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Oral history interview with Fritz Bultman Archives of American Art
creatorOf Oral history interview with Rosalind Bengelsdorf Browne Archives of American Art
creatorOf Oral history interview with Leon Golub Archives of American Art
creatorOf Oral history interview with Herbert Ferber Archives of American Art
creatorOf Oral history interview with Tom Wesselmann Archives of American Art
creatorOf Oral history interview with George McNeil Archives of American Art
creatorOf Oral history interview with John Opper Archives of American Art
creatorOf Oral history interview with Esteban Vicente Archives of American Art
creatorOf Oral history interview with Ibram Lassaw Archives of American Art
Relation Name
associatedWith Antonakos, Stephen, 1926- person
associatedWith Artists' Club (New York: N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Artists' Club (New York: NY) corporateBody
associatedWith Artists Space (Gallery) corporateBody
associatedWith Asher, Elise, 1914- person
associatedWith Baber, Alice. person
associatedWith Barringer, Richard. person
associatedWith Bengelsdorf, Rosalind, 1916-1979. person
associatedWith Blaine, Nell, 1922-1996. person
associatedWith Bolotowsky, Ilya, 1907-1981. person
associatedWith Bouchard, Thomas O. person
associatedWith Briggs, Ernest, 1923- person
associatedWith Bultman, Fritz, 1919-1985. person
associatedWith Campbell, G. person
associatedWith Cembalest, Robin. person
associatedWith Club (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Club (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Club (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Colker, Ed, 1927- person
associatedWith Davis, Brad. person
associatedWith De Kooning, Elaine. person
associatedWith De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997 person
associatedWith Dodd, Lois, 1927- person
associatedWith Drexler, Sherman. person
associatedWith Ferber, Herbert, 1906-1991. person
associatedWith Ferren, John, 1905-1970. person
associatedWith Fine, Perle, 1908-1988. person
associatedWith Fischer, John Lyle 1923-1985. person
associatedWith Forst, Miles, 1923- person
associatedWith Garelick, Rhonda K., 1962- person
associatedWith Goldberg, Michael, 1924- person
associatedWith Golub, Leon, 1922-2004, person
associatedWith Gottlieb, Adolph, 1903-1974. person
associatedWith Greene, Stephen, 1918-1999. person
associatedWith Guston, Philip, 1913-1980 person
associatedWith Hayter, Stanley William, 1901-1988. person
associatedWith Held, Alex. person
associatedWith Held, Alex, 1928- person
associatedWith Holty, Carl, 1900-1973. person
associatedWith Holtzman, Harry. person
associatedWith Jenkins, Paul, 1923- person
associatedWith Jensen, Alfred, 1903-1981. person
associatedWith Kahn, Wolf, 1927- person
associatedWith Kaldis, Aristodimos, 1899-1979. person
associatedWith Kamrowski, Gerome. person
associatedWith Kanovitz, Howard. person
associatedWith Karp, Ivan C., 1926- person
associatedWith Katz, Alex, 1927- person
associatedWith Katzen, Lila. person
associatedWith Kaupelis, Robert. person
associatedWith Kipp, Lyman, 1929- person
associatedWith Kroll, Jack. person
associatedWith Lassaw, Ibram, 1913-2003. person
associatedWith Lehr, Myra. person
associatedWith Lewitin, Landes, 1892-1966 person
associatedWith Marcus, Marcia, 1928- person
associatedWith Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation. corporateBody
associatedWith McNeil, George, 1908- person
associatedWith Mitchell, Joan, 1926-1992 person
associatedWith Morris, Kyle. person
associatedWith Morris, Robert, 1931- person
associatedWith Motherwell, Robert. person
associatedWith Murray, Robert, 1936- person
associatedWith National Endowment for the Arts. corporateBody
associatedWith New York University corporateBody
associatedWith Opper, John, person
associatedWith Pearlstein, Philip, 1924- person
associatedWith Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008 person
associatedWith Ray, Man, 1890-1976. person
associatedWith Resnick, Milton, 1917-2004 person
associatedWith Robins, Corinne. person
associatedWith Romano, Salvatore, 1925- person
associatedWith Rose, Barbara. person
associatedWith Rosenborg, Ralph M., 1913-1992. person
associatedWith Ruda, Edwin, 1922- person
associatedWith Sander, Ludwig. person
associatedWith Sander, Ludwig, 1906- person
associatedWith Sievan, Maurice. person
associatedWith Solman, Joseph, 1909- person
associatedWith Sonnenberg, Jack. person
associatedWith Spero, Nancy, 1926- person
associatedWith Stankiewicz, Richard, 1922-1983. person
associatedWith Stevens, May. person
associatedWith Tanager Gallery (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Tworkov, Jack. person
associatedWith Underhill, William, 1933- person
associatedWith Vicente, Esteban, 1903- person
associatedWith Vicente, Esteban, 1903- person
associatedWith Weber, Idelle, 1932- person
associatedWith Wesselmann, Tom, 1931-2004. person
associatedWith Whitney Museum of American Art. corporateBody
associatedWith WRFM (Radio station : New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Yale University corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
United States
New York (State)--New York
United States
United States
New York (State)
New York (State)--New York
New York (State)--New York
United States
Subject
Art, Modern
Abstract expressionism
Art, American
Art, American
Art
Art criticism
Art critics
Art critics
Art critics
Art historians
Artists
Artists
Artists
New York school of art
Painters
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1925-07-22

Americans

English

Information

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