Henrietta Berk (1919-1990), "Piper Island Ferry," Oil on canvas, 60" H x 48" W

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Art + Design

By John Moran Auctioneers

Aug 29, 2023

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• Lot Description

  Henrietta Berk
  (1919-1990)
  "Piper Island Ferry"
  Oil on canvas
  Signed lower right: H. Berk; titled on a label housed in a plastic sleeve affixed to the frame's backing board 
  60" H x 48" W
  Provenance: Private Collection, Colorado
  Steven Stern Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA, acquired from the above
  
  Other Notes: A torn label is housed in a plastic sleeve affixed to the frame's backing board.
  
  The story of the career of Henrietta Berk is of triumph and creative explosion, one that proves that it is never too late for artistic genius to become ignited. Born in 1919 in Wichita, Kansas, Berk lived the life of a traditional American woman in the middle of the 20th century. Until she didn't. Abandoned by her father and left at an orphanage by her mother, Berk's early childhood is clouded and tragic. To heal her trauma and forge an independent identity, Berk turned to artmaking during her time at the orphanage. Berk graduated from high school in 1936 but did not complete a college degree. She married Dr. Morris Berk in 1939, living the life of an American housewife, her personal artmaking a mild annoyance to her husband.
  
  Berk could not resist panting. She began executing small interior projects for neighbors in Oakland, California, receiving some recognition in the press in 1957. She was urged by a friend to take art classes and enrolled on and off at CCAC (California College of Arts and Crafts) from 1957 to 1961, often the oldest student in the classroom. She studied under Richard Diebenkorn in the summer of 1957, which would alter her artistic career forever. From her studies at CCAC and visiting the surrounding contemporary art scene, Berk's work would become linked to the Bay Area Figurative Movement. Her participation in a group show, Painted Flower, at the Oakland Art Museum (now the Oakland Museum of California Art) gained some attention, but it was her solo exhibition at Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery that propelled her career as an artist. Berk participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the next decade, often the only woman on the roster. Berk blurred the line between realism in landscape and figurative painting and the movement of abstract expressionism gripping the West Coast art world.
  
  Her creative output only diminished with her health. Diagnosed with diabetes in the late 1960s, it steadily worsened her eyesight until she was nearly blind by the middle of the 1970s. Unfettered by her lack of vision, Berk continued to paint (on large canvases so she could make out shapes and colors) until her death in 1990.
  
  The work "Piper Island Ferry" demonstrates Berk's classic techniques. The painting is developed through broad, thick applications of paint, building each section of the landscape composition. Bold, saturated colors emanate from the canvas, recalling art critic Miriam Dungan Cross's review from 1959: "With rich, thick color often applied with the expressive energy of Van Gogh, [Berk] transmits her sensitive vision of landscapes...There is something of the turning of the earth, the life forces of nature in her landscapes..." The trees, ferry, and lines of the sky and horizon are all created within their own expressive, vivid color application, separating each area by both color and technique, coalescing into a unified, energetic piece.
  
  Henrietta Berk's artistic achievements inspire, and her work is coming into its own in American art history. As professor and art historian Deborah Solon proclaims, "Berk defied the odds. She had every reason not to succeed. Age, gender, lack of full-time training, and a complicated personal history-any one of these obstacles could have derailed her career. But when she painted, all those hurdles evaporated. Berk was circumspect and self-effacing. Although gratified by the critical recognition and grateful for the financial success, her true focus was the personal freedom, joy, and creative delight she experienced through making her art." Henrietta Berk's life work is experiencing a rediscovery, and was the center of a retrospective exhibition at The Hilbert Museum in Orange, California, in 2021 in conjunction with the publishing of In Living Color: The Art and Life of Henrietta Berk.
  
  Berk's work is in many prestigious private collections, and a part of the collections of institutions such as the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California and The Hilbert Museum of California Art in Orange, California. Related artists include Richard Diebenkorn, Paul Wonner, William Theophilus Brown, Elmer Bischoff, Wayne Thiebaud, Gregory Kondos, Roland Peterson, and Raimonds Staprans.

  Condition

  Visual: Overall good condition. Light and unobtrusive areas of craquelure throughout, primarily showing in the orange band of pigment in the upper half of the work.
  
  Blacklight: Scattered areas of touchups throughout, the largest being a 3" H x 0.75" W area in the dark green pigment in the lower right quadrant.
  
  Frame: 49.5" H x 61.25" W x 2.25" D

  Condition reports are offered as a courtesy and are typically published in Moran's catalogue or can be made available upon request. The absence of a condition report does not imply that an item is free from defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of others. Buyers are responsible for determining to their own satisfaction the true nature and condition of any lot prior to bidding. Though buyers are not legally required to inspect lots prior to purchase, failure to do so may constitute a waiver of complaint that an item was not delivered in a condition equal to the existent condition at the auction.

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