Gilbert Sackerman
Written 2017-01-23
I am very interested in the artist Gilbert Sackerman, and I’d like to find out more about him. There is not a lot of searchable information about him on the web, so maybe I could find some books one day and gather the stuff that I learn into this post?
Why Gilbert
Gilbert’s art is so architecturally precise. The colours are muted but still beautiful, and the style is generally serene, which is cool because the source matter is so visually hard, or concrete. The buildings keep their sharp edges but they look soft. Architectural art also makes me think of software engineering.
For now, check out these resources:
- Idyllic, Depression-Era Watercolors of American Design
- Search for Gilbert Sackerman on NGA images
- See his artist info on NGA
What I’ve found
The Sistermony Inscription
Updated 2017-02-17
Before I can get to a library, I did a Google Books search. There are not many hits. The only interesting one is the inscription in the book Sistermony by Richard Stern. The book is a memoir exploring the author’s relationship to his sister, Ruth. It appears that the book has a portrait of Ruth, painted by Sackerman, in the dedication. The painting is from 1934 which is the correct era.
I speculate that Gilbert was a gigging artist, doing portraits for money, and was commissioned by the family to paint a portrait of Ruth upon her tenth birthday.
The author, [Richard G. Stern] sadly passed away in 2013.
Leads:
- The Stern family
- New York City, 1928-1938