Sylvia
Rutkoff
Wisconsin | New York, NY — 1919–2011
A painter whose oils, sand, and acrylics carried the raw charge of expressionism without losing their sense of delight. Critics called her work vital, colorful, and alive, an artist who painted with both intensity and a rare simplicity.
Selected Works
Sylvia Rutkoff "Blue Abstract" (1960s) Oil on Canvas 114" x 49" p/c: Area Interiors NYC
Sylvia Rutkoff "Football Player" (1950s) Oil on masonite 24" x 18"
Sylvia Rutkoff "Traffic" (1950s) Oil paint, sand on masonite 48" x 36"
Sylvia Rutkoff "Vietnam" (1960s) Oil paint and sand on masonite 48" x48"
Sylvia Rutkoff "The Cowboy" (1960s) Oil on masonite 42" x 36"
Sylvia Rutkoff "Doorway" (1960s) Oil paint and sand on masonite 48" x36"
Sylvia Rutkoff "Blue Cloud Over Head" (1950s) Oil on masonite 42" x 36" p/c: Foxcroft Designs
Sylvia Rutkoff "Mexican Night" (1950s) Oil paint and sand on masonite 42" x 48"
Sylvia Rutkoff "Girl with Doll" Oil on masonite 30" x 24"
Sylvia Rutkoff "Man at the Bar" (1950s) Oil paint and sand on masonite 32" x 36"
Sylvia Rutkoff "Across the River" (1950s) Oil on canvas 36" x 24"
Sylvia Rutkoff "Schoolgirl" (1950s) Oil paint and sand on masonite 36" x 48"
Sylvia Rutkoff "Boy with Mittens" (1950s) Oil on masonite 36" x 42"
Sylvia Rutkoff "King" (1950s) Oil paint on masonite 30" x 42"
Sylvia Rutkoff "Summer Night" (1950s) Oil paint on masonite 12" x 12"
Sylvia Rutkoff "Three Kings" (1950s) Oil on masonite 33" x 32"
Sylvia Rutkoff "Red with Blue" (1970s) Fabric on stretcher 38" x 28
Sylvia Rutkoff "Girl with Beret" (1950s) Oil on masonite 32" x 32"
A selection of original paintings available for private placement. Works range from small figurative pieces to larger abstracts. Pricing on request.
"Highly sophisticated textures that speak firmly and imaginatively... one thinks of a gay and colorful Dubuffet."
Gregory Battock, Art CriticAbout the work
Sylvia Rutkoff with the painting “The Cowboy”
The New York Herald Tribune called her work "vital." The New York Times called her an "outstanding colorist." When major critics use words like that, they mean it.
The cache of paintings by Sylvia Rutkoff was recently discovered through her great nephew. This is an important and previously unknown body of American art, now being offered for the first time.
Sylvia Weinreb Rutkoff was born in Wisconsin in 1919, and spent her artistic life in New York, a city that shaped her sensibility and gave her work its particular charge. She studied at Hunter College in New York City, completing her MA in Painting and Art History in 1939, and went on to a career that earned her recognition from some of the most respected voices in American art criticism.
Her paintings, made with oils, sand, and acrylics — sit at the edge where abstraction meets something more instinctive. Arts Magazine described her work as "a happy wedding of the natural image to the violent immediacy of the expressionist idiom." You can feel the effort in every mark, but the colors tell a different story.
"Naive and primitive images in a refreshing and delightful manner."
— Gregory Battock, critic
Sylvia was also deeply rooted in the artistic community of her time. She belonged to the Vectors, an artists' group that included the Abstract Expressionists Ben Wilson, Frances Manacher, Rhoda Sklar, and Julius and Mary Shier. She taught art at Lehigh University during the summers in the 1960s and 1970s, and served as Director of the Art Workshop in the Graduate School at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Teaching mattered to her as much as painting did.
Exhibitions, Press & Recognition
Education
Hunter College, New York City MA in Painting and Art History, 1939Exhibitions
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
Brooklyn Museum, New York — Biennial, 1956
Butler Institute of Art, Youngstown, Ohio
Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York
International Young Artists Exhibition, Tokyo, 1962
Osaka University Art Gallery, Japan
Caravan Gallery, New York — two one-woman shows, 1961 & 1963
Capricorn Gallery, New York
Loeb Gallery, New York University
Gallimaufry Gallery, Croton-On-Hudson
Women's Interart Center
Key Gallery, SoHo, New York
Edward Williams Gallery, Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ
National Juried Show, Summit Art Center, NJ
Creative Gallery, New York
The Riverside Museum, New YorkSelected CLients
Mary McDonald Walloons, Fort Worth Kelly Wearstler Area Interiors, NYCPress
Arts Magazine
New York Herald Tribune — "vital"
New York Times — "outstanding colorist"
Gregory Battock, critic — extended review praising her Art Brut sensibilityTeaching
Lehigh University — 1960s–70s
Fairleigh Dickinson University Director, Art Workshop, Graduate SchoolAvailability
The collection of paintings by Sylvia Rutkoff represents a significant and newly discovered body of American Abstract Expressionist work. These oils, acrylics, and mixed-media pieces: intense, colorful, and deeply original, are being offered for the first time. Inquiries are welcome from collectors, institutions, and researchers.
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