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Sidney Alexander Gordin
Sidney Alexander Gordin
Born	October 24, 1918; Chelyabinsk, Russian Republic
Died	January 28, 1996 (aged 77); Berkeley, California, U.S.
Education	Brooklyn Museum Art School
Alma mater	Cooper Union
Occupation(s)	Artist, professor
Movement	Abstract expressionism, constructivism

Sidney Alexander Gordin (1918–1996) was a Russian-born American artist and educator, known for his abstract paintings, prints, and sculptures.^[1]^[2]^[3] He was a Professor Emeritus at University of California, Berkeley, where he taught from 1958 to 1986.^[4]^[5] Gordin was associated with abstract expressionism and constructivism.^[6]^[7]

Early life and education

Gordin was born on October 24, 1918, in Chelyabinsk, Russian Republic.^[4]^[8] When he was born the Russian Empire had recently collapsed due to the Russian Revolution. His family migrated to Shanghai, and later Harbin in Heilongjiang province, China.^[9] In 1922, at the age of 4, his family moved to Brooklyn, New York City, New York.^[4]

Gordin graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School.^[9] He attended Brooklyn Museum Art School in 1935 to 1936; followed by study at Cooper Union in 1937 to 1941, where he graduated.^[10]^[4]^[11]

Art career

Gordin's first group exhibition was in 1951 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, named "American Sculpture 1951".^[4] That same year in 1951, Gordin's first solo show was held at Bennington College in Vermont.^[4] In 1954, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) hosted the "Play Sculpture Competition", Gordin had participated and won third place with "Tunnel Maze" (1954).^[12] His "Tunnel Maze" was judged as most successful for play, safety, and ease; and subsequently was manufactured by Creative Playthings.^[13]^[14]

In 1958, he moved to California. In 1960, Gordin acquired an art studio in Provincetown, Massachusetts, while still maintaining his home in California.^[4] In the 1960s, "The Breakfast Group" was founded by Elmer Bischoff and Gordin.^[15] The group was made up of Berkeley-based artists who met weekly to talk art over breakfast, the group held several group exhibitions.^[15]

In 1959, he had his first solo exhibition in the San Francisco Bay Area at the Dilexi Gallery of San Francisco founded by Jim Newman.^[4] In 1992, he was awarded the Maggie Kuhn Award by Presbyterian Senior Services, for being a role model in aging.^[5]

Teaching

He briefly taught in schools in New York state including at Brooklyn College, Pratt Institute, Sarah Lawrence College, and the New School for Social Research.^[2]^[16] Gordin moved to California in 1958 to start a teaching position at University of California, Berkeley, where he remained until 1986.^[16] He was a full professor from 1967 to 1986, and served as the department chair.^[4]^[16]^[17]

Death and legacy

He died on January 28, 1996, at home in Berkeley.^[5] His memorial service was held at Kroeber Hall on the U.C. Berkeley campus.^[5]

His work can be found in public museum collections include at the Whiney Museum of American Art,^[2]^[18] Museum of Modern Art,^[2]^[19] the Art Institute of Chicago,^[5]^[20] Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,^[10] Lowe Art Museum,^[10] San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,^[21] Chrysler Museum of Art,^[22] Madison Museum of Contemporary Art,^[23] Brooklyn Museum,^[24] Farnsworth Art Museum,^[25] and Oakland Museum of California.^[10]

References

^ Stiles, Knute (May 1965). "Sidney Gordin's New Work". Artforum.com. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Sidney Gordin; Abstract Artist, Sculptor". Los Angeles Times. 1996-02-13. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ O'Doherty, Brian (1961-10-26). "Art: 3 Modern Displays; Works of Sidney Gordin, Guy Gosselin and Nassos Daphnis Shown Here". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "University of California: In Memoriam, Sidney Gordin, Art: Berkeley". Calisphere, California Digital Library. Jerome Carlin, Robert L. Hartman, Brian Wall, John Zurier. Regents of The University of California. 1996. Retrieved 2022-07-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "OBITUARIES -- Sidney Gordin; Artist, Educator". SFGATE. 1996-02-06. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ Arts Magazine. Vol. 52. Art Digest Incorporated. 1961. p. 19.
^ Marter, Joan M. (2011). The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art. Oxford University Press. pp. 538–539. ISBN 978-0-19-533579-8.
^ Shedletsky, Stuart; Gibson, Ann Eden (1994). Still Working: Underknown Artists of Age in America. Parsons School of Design. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-295-97385-2.
^ ^a ^b "Overview: Oral history interview with Sidney Gordin, 1965 Sept. 2". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Sidney Gordin". FAMSF. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ American Exhibition. Vol. 65. The Art Institute of Chicago. 1962.
^ Solomon, Susan Gross (2005). American Playgrounds: Revitalizing Community Space. UPNE. pp. 31–34. ISBN 978-1-58465-517-6.
^ Kinchin, Juliet; O'Connor, Aidan (2012). Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900-2000. The Museum of Modern Art. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-87070-826-8.
^ Today and Tomorrow. Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.). Museum of Modern Art. 1960. p. 33.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^ ^a ^b Marech, Rona (2000-02-04). "THE ART OF CONVERSATION / For decades, artists have met weekly in Berkeley to chew on topics trivial, profound". SFGATE. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Sidney Gordin papers, [ca. 1925]-1995". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ Archives of American Art Journal. Vol. 37–38. Archives of American Art. 1997. pp. 53–54.
^ "Sidney Gordin". Whiney Museum of American Art. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ "Sidney Gordin". The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ "Sidney Gordin". The Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ "Gordin, Sidney". SFMOMA. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ "Construction #7". chrysler.emuseum.com. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ "Untitled". Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ "Construction II". Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ "#11-56". Farnsworth Art Museum Collection Online. Retrieved 2022-07-07.