SAM MIDDLETON: Prints 1963 – 2005, January 23 – February 13, 2021

 For a PREVIEW, click here.

Paper Products: June 2-25, 2016

SAM MIDDLETON BIO

SAM MIDDLETON (American, worked in The Netherlands, 1927 – 2015)

Sam Middleton was represented in 2015 in America Is Hard To See, the inaugural exhibition in the Whitney Museum's new venue on Gansevoort Street in New York City. Middleton in the 1960s established himself as one of The Netherlands’ premier artists. Throughout his career, the Harlem, N.Y., native’s abstracted collages and prints with representational elements have been inspired by jazz, though the Dutch landscape also provided an impetus. In the early 1950s, Middleton was part of New York’s Cedar Tavern scene. In 1955 he moved to Mexico, then Spain, Sweden and Denmark, settling in The Netherlands in 1961. Middleton was part of the considerable contingency of expatriate African-American artists in Europe. In the late 1950s-early 1960s, he regularly was included in American exhibitions, including at New York’s Whitney Museum and Brooklyn Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Fine Art. From Europe, he sustained his reputation in the United States, resulting in his inclusion in several prominent books on African-American art. Middleton’s work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum, Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., the Hampton (Va.) University Museum and Washington, D.C.’s Howard University. His work is in museums in Australia, Israel and The Netherlands, including Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum and Venlo’s Van Bommel Van Dam Museum, which in 1997 organized a Middleton retrospective. Middleton was represented in America Is Hard To See, the inaugural exhibition in the Whitney Museum's new venue on Gansevoort Street in New York City. 

Works of Art: Sam Middleton

Ragtime, 1981, collage and mixed media, 
18 x 24 1/2 in., POR

Untitled, 1984, mixed media and collage, 
7 3/4 x 9 3/4 in., POR

Sprite, 1988, collage and mixed media, 7 1/2 x 10 in.

POR

Study In Harmony, 1986

Collage and mixed media, 7 x 9 3/4 in., POR

Untitled, 1984, mixed media and collage, 
7 x 9 1/2 in., POR

Untitled, 1986, collage and mixed media

6 3/4 x 9 1/2 in, POR

Harmonics, 1995, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A, 
sheet 22 3/4 x 41 1/2 in., image 16 1/4 x 35 1/4, POR 

Overtones, 1995, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A, 
sheet 23 x 41 1/2 in., image 16 1/4 x 35 1/4 in., POR 

Moonglow,1997, silkscreen E/A, ed. of 100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A, 
sheet 16 x 43 3/4 in., image 8 3/4 x 36 1/2 in., POR

Midnight Sun, 1997, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A, 
sheet 16 x 43 3/4 in., image 8 3/4 x 36 1/2 in., POR

Symphony In Red, 1988, mixed media collage, 
19 1/2 x 25 in., POR/SOLD

Polder Prelude, 2000, mixed media collage, 
11 1/2 x 11 1/2 in., POR

Composition, 1994, mixed media collage, 
9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in., POR

Composition, 1993, mixed media collage, 
9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in., POR

Composition, 1993, mixed media collage, 
9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in., POR

Composition, 1994, mixed media collage, 
9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in., POR

Joy Spring, 1997, mixed media 
collage, 30 x 21 in., POR

The Blue Singer, 2005, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 
100 numbered impressions & 10 E A,
sheet 22 x 38 in., image 19 1/2 x 35 1/4 in., POR

The Inner Circle, 2005, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 
100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A,
sheet 22 x 38 in., image 19 3/4 x 35 in., POR

Composition, 1997, silkscreen, E/A, 
ed. of 100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A,
sheet 14 3/4 x 17 3/4 in., image 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.
POR

Composition, 1997, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of
100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A, ,
sheet 14 3/4 x 12 3/4 in., image 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.
POR

Composition, 1997, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 
100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A,
 sheet 14 3/4 x 17 3/4 in., image 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.
POR

Composition, 1997, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 
100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A,
 sheet 14 3/4 x 17 3/4 in., image 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.
POR

if ARTwalk: Salon I & II: December 11- 24, 2008

For exhibition installation images, click here.

THE SALON I & II

Dec. 11 – 24, 2008

an exhibition at two Columbia, SC, locations:

Gallery 80808/Vista Studios

808 Lady Street

&

if ART Gallery

1223 Lincoln Street

Reception and ifART Walk: Thursday, Dec. 11, 5 – 10 p.m.

at and between both locations

Opening Hours:

Weekdays, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Saturday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Sunday, 1 – 5 p.m.

& by appointment

Open Christmas Eve until 7 p.m.

For more information, contact Wim Roefs at if ART:

(803) 255-0068/ (803) 238-2351 – if-art-gallery@sc.twcbc.com

For its December 2008 exhibition, if ART Gallery presents The Salon I & II, an exhibition at two Columbia, SC, locations: if ART Gallery and Gallery 80808/Vista Studios. On Thursday, December 11, 2008, 5 – 10 p.m., if ART will hold opening receptions at both locations. The ifART Walk will be on Lady and Lincoln Streets, between both locations, which are around the corner from each other.

The exhibitions will present art by if ART Gallery artists, installed salon-style at both Gallery 80808 and if ART. Artists in the exhibitions include two new additions to if ART Gallery, Columbia ceramic artist Renee Rouillier and the prominent African-American collage and mixed-media artist Sam Middleton, an 81-year-old expatriate who has lived in the Netherlands since the early 1960s.

Other artists in the exhibition include Karel Appel, Aaron Baldwin, Jeri Burdick, Carl Blair, Lynn Chadwick, Steven Chapp, Stephen Chesley, Corneille, Jeff Donovan, Jacques Doucet, Phil Garrett, Herbert Gentry, Tonya Gregg, Jerry Harris, Bill Jackson, Sjaak Korsten, Peter Lenzo, Sam Middleton, Eric Miller, Dorothy Netherland, Marcelo Novo, Matt Overend, Anna Redwine, Paul Reed, Edward Rice, Silvia Rudolf, Kees Salentijn, Laura Spong, Tom Stanley, Christine Tedesco, Brown Thornton, Leo Twiggs, Bram van Velde, Katie Walker, Mike Williams, David Yaghjian, Paul Yanko and Don Zurlo.

The Fame Factor: September 7-18, 2007

if ART PRESENTS AT GALLERY 80808/VISTA STUDIOS:

THE FAME FACTOR

Featuring art by:

Benny Andrews (American, 1930-2006) – Karel Appel (Dutch, 1921-2006) – Lynn Chadwick (British, 1914-2003) – Corneille (Dutch, b. 1922) – Jacques Doucet (French, 1924-1994) – John Hultberg (American, 1922-2005) – Richard Hunt (American, b. 1935) – Wilfredo Lam (Cuban, 1902-1982) – Ibram Lassaw (American, 1913-2003) – Ger Lataster (Dutch, b. 1920) – Lucebert (Dutch, 1924-1994) – Sam Middleton (American, b. 1927) ¬– Joan Mitchell (American, 1925-1992) – Hannes Postma (Dutch, b. 1933) – Reinhoud (Belgian, 1928-2007) – Paul Reed (American, b. 1919) – Edward Rice (American, b. 1953) – Kees Salentijn (Dutch, b. 1947) – Virginia Scotchie (American, b. 1959) – Leo Twiggs (American, b. 1934) – Bram van Velde (Dutch, 1895-1981)

September 7 – 18, 2007

Opening Reception: Friday, Sept. 7, 2007, 5:00 – 10:00 PM

Opening Hours: Weekdays, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM; Sat., 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM;

Sun, 1:00 – 5:00 PM

In September, work by world-famous artists such as Joan Mitchell, Karel Appel, Lynn Chadwick, Wilfredo Lam and Bram van Velde will be in The Fame Factor, a group show at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios in Columbia organized by if ART Gallery. The exhibition also will include if ART Gallery artists Leo Twiggs, Edward Rice, Kees Salentijn,Virginia Scotchie, Laura Spong and Paul Reed. The Fame Factor will explore the concept of fame, especially the relativity of fame.

The exhibition opens September 7 with a reception from 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. and runs through September 18. Opening hours for Gallery 80808/Vista Studios will be expanded during the if ART exhibition. They will be weekdays, 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.; Sat., 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Sun, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Other American artists with national and even international reputations in the show are Richard Hunt, Benny Andrews, Ibram Lassaw, Paul Reed, John Hultberg and Sam Middleton, an American artist who has lived in the Netherlands since the early 1960s. Dutch artists with international fame in addition to Appel and Van Velde will be Corneille, Ger Lataster, Hannes Postma, Kees Salentijn and Lucebert. Furthermore, the show will present French artist Jacques Doucet and Belgian artist Reinhoud.

Reinhoud and Doucet both were part of the legendary CoBrA group of Northern European artists from the late 1940s and 1950s, which also included Appel, Corneille and Lucebert. “CoBrA” stands for Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam, the cities or origin of most of the major figures in the group. Another artist in the show, Wilfredo Lam, a Cuban artist who had a vast international reach, exhibited once with CoBrA, in the early 1950s, though he was not a member. All of these artists are in the collections of major American museums. Dutchman Salentijn works in a post-CoBrA style.

Hunt, Lassaw, Chadwick and Reinhoud are sculptors. All will be represented in the exhibition with limited-edition lithographs. Hunt, from Chicago, is one of the country’s most famous living sculptors, in part for his many public sculptures. Lassaw was one of the main sculptors in the New York School and a core figure on the city’s 1940s-1950s Abstract Expressionist scene. Chadwick is one of the most prominent figures among British sculptors of the generation of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.

Sam Middleton, born in Harlem, NY, but living in the Netherlands, is known for his collages inspired by jazz; the exhibition will show some of his silkscreens. Lataster is one of the Netherlands’ most prominent Abstract-Expressionist painters; his work is in several major American museums. Postma established a big reputation in Europe in the 1960s with his etchings and aquatints, some of which will be in the show. Bram van Velde, who spent most of life and career in Paris, is a legendary figure among mid-20th-century European abstractionists.

Hultberg was part of the New York School scene but subsequently moved to California. Andrews was from Georgia but built his career in New York City, becoming one of the country’s most prominent African-American artists, who increasingly gained traction in the wider art community. Reed was with Kenneth Noland, Morris Louis and Gene Davis among the original Washington Color Field painters of the 1960s. Mitchell is simply one of the most famous Abstract-Expressionist painters.

Twiggs, from Orangeburg, S.C., most likely is the country’s most prominent pioneer with batik as a contemporary art medium. Scotchie is a ceramist with an international reputation who teaches at the University of South Carolina. Rice, from North Augusta, S.C., is represented in many museums in the Southeast. Spong’s reputation has grown by leaps in recent years and is now among South Carolina’s best-known abstract painters.

“The idea of the show is to explore how relative fame is,” if ART Wim Roefs said. “Several feet worth of books and catalogues on Appel, and a few feet on Mitchell, don’t change the fact that among people attending this show, Laura Spong is probably better known – and she makes do with a single 32-page catalogue. Leo Twiggs also is better known here than Appel and Mitchell. Someone like Van Velde is legendary in Europe. Though he had New York gallery shows in the United States, and though his work is in many major American museums, he is at best obscure around here. In general, of course, a lot of famous European artists aren’t well-known in the United States.”

“Lassaw really was one of the major sculptors among Abstract Expressionists, but, of course, sculptors, except for David Smith, played third fiddle in the movement compared to the painters. Reed was one of six artists in the first nationally traveling exhibition of Washington Color Field painters, with Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis, and he makes the art-history books. Still, he’s mainly known among art insiders, though the renewed recent appreciation of color-field painting has giving him new exposure, too.”

Silkscreens and Lithographs

The Blue Singer, 2005, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 
100 numbered impressions & 10 E A,
sheet 22 x 38 in., image 19 1/2 x 35 1/4 in., POR

The Inner Circle, 2005, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 
100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A,
sheet 22 x 38 in., image 19 3/4 x 35 in., POR

Composition, 1997, silkscreen, E/A, 
ed. of 100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A,
sheet 14 3/4 x 17 3/4 in., image 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.
POR

Composition, 1997, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of
100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A, ,
sheet 14 3/4 x 12 3/4 in., image 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.
POR

Composition, 1997, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 
100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A,
 sheet 14 3/4 x 17 3/4 in., image 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.
POR

Moonglow,1997, silkscreen E/A, ed. of 100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A, 
sheet 16 x 43 3/4 in., image 8 3/4 x 36 1/2 in., POR

Midnight Sun, 1997, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A, 
sheet 16 x 43 3/4 in., image 8 3/4 x 36 1/2 in., POR

Harmonics, 1995, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A, 
sheet 22 3/4 x 41 1/2 in., image 16 1/4 x 35 1/4, POR 

Composition, 1997, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 
100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A,
 sheet 14 3/4 x 17 3/4 in., image 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.
POR

Overtones, 1995, silkscreen, E/A, ed. of 100 numbered impressions & 10 E/A, 
sheet 23 x 41 1/2 in., image 16 1/4 x 35 1/4 in., POR 

Untitled, 1974, silkscreen ed. 6/60, 
13 1/2 x 19 1/4 in., POR

Untitled, 1994, silkscreen ed. 55/150, 
15 x 20 1/4 in., POR

Untitled, 1965, lithograph ed. 126/190,
20 x 27 3/4 in., POR

Untitled, 1966, lithograph ed. 2/25,
22 1/2 x 15 1/2 in., POR

Untitled, 1963, lithograph, ed. 110,
19.5 x 15.5 in. (sheet), 15.5 x 13 in.
(image), POR

Untitled, 1965, lithograph,
ed. 190, 31 x 21 in. (sheet),
21.5 x 16.5 in. (image), POR

Untitled, 1966, lithograph, 
ed. 25, 31 x 21 in. (sheet), 
19 x 15 in. (image), POR

Bela Bartok, 1972, lithograph, ed. 75, 
20 x 25 in., POR

Grieg Concerto, 1972, lithograph, ed. 75,
20 x 25 in., POR