Continuing through May 8, 2016
Harry Sternberg came into his own as an artist in New York City during the Depression years of the 1930’s. Having initially honed his skills as a printmaker, Sternberg received recognition as a Social Realist, using his observations of immigrants, railroad yards, construction sites and the harsh working conditions of the Pennsylvania coalmines to create his woodcuts, etchings and paintings. Referencing Goya’s practice of integrating reality and fantasy, the humble and grotesque, Sternberg conveyed the despair, social and politically charged issues of the 1930’s. "East Coast, West Coast and In-Between" begins with his earliest woodcuts, describing his childhood activities spent at the Brooklyn Library, time at home with family and his Hebrew studies. Mature work portrays industrial landscapes and the plight of the physical laborer using a combination of realism, surrealism and abstraction. These images range from dark and dramatic expressions to a more dreamlike sensibility.
Sternberg also created murals commissioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury, and taught for over 30 years at the New York Art Students League. Due to a serious illness while in his 60s, the artist relocated to Escondido, California, where his work took on a distinctively different tone. His paintings began to reveal a brighter and more varied color palette as well as lighter themes. It is evident that Sternberg, who lived to the age of 97, centered his career around themes of humanism and social justice that turned more personal and joyous after his relocation to Southern California. It is through his New York period work that we gain a heightened awareness of a particularly turbulent time in American history.
Published Courtesy of ArtSceneCal ©2016
