Jonathan Talbot, (born November 14, 1939) is an American
collage artist,
painter, and
printmaker. He also is the creator of an innovative collage
technique that eliminates liquid
adhesives from the collage assembly process. His technique is the subject of his book, ''Collage: A New Approach''.
Talbot's works have been
exhibited at The
National Academy
A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with State (polity), state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but ...
and the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
in
New York. His artwork has represented the United States in exhibitions sponsored by the
U. S. State Department as well as by the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
. His works are included in permanent
museum collection
A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, repla ...
s in United States, Canada, and Europe. His
studio is in
Warwick, New York
Warwick is a town in the southwestern part of Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 32,027 at the 2020 census. The town contains three villages (Florida, Greenwood Lake, and Warwick) and eight hamlets ( Amity, Bellvale, Ed ...
.
Every year Talbot schedules workshops that he conducts for artists who wish to study collage, his techniques, and related subjects. They are hosted at various locations around the United States and some are free exhibits sponsored by local organizations.
Talbot is best known for his
collages and multi-dimensional collage-constructions, as well as, for his
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
s,
watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...
s, and
etching
Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...
s.
Biography to 1970
Talbot is the son of artist,
Helen Talbot
Helen Talbot (April 7, 1924 January 29, 2010) was a motion picture actor, actress and pin-up girl in the United States. She was born Helen Darling in Concordia, Kansas and lived there until 1941 when she moved to live with her brother in Wes ...
, who exhibited in New York in the early 1930s, and he was raised on a family farm in upstate
New York in
Putnam County.
A youthful
portrait
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...
of Jonathan Talbot was painted by the noted artist and
illustrator,
Arthur Lidov, and it appeared on the cover of the December 1947 issue of ''
The American Mercury
''The American Mercury'' was an American magazine published from 1924Staff (Dec. 31, 1923)"Bichloride of Mercury."''Time''. to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured wri ...
'' magazine. Shortly thereafter Talbot was enrolled in the
Hessian Hills School founded by
Elizabeth Moos, a notably progressive school in
Croton-on-Hudson
Croton-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 8,327 at the 2020 United States census over 8,070 at the 2010 census. It is located in the town of Cortlandt as part of New York City's northern sub ...
, New York, where the educational focus was on the
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
s.
He spent many summers during the 1950s living in the village of
Menemsha on
Martha's Vineyard, an island which at that time, was the summer home of many artists and members of the creative arts. Painter
Thomas Hart Benton, lyricist
E. Y. "Yip" Harburg, the author of ''Brother Can you Spare a Dime'', and
Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote (born Robert Peter Cohon; October 10, 1941) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author and narrator of films, theatre, television, and audiobooks. He worked on films such as ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), '' Cro ...
, who would become an actor, were among the influences upon Talbot's early artistic efforts.
Talbot's first creative efforts were in music. A self-taught
musician, Talbot's musical career included
performances at
Carnegie Hall and
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the (at the time) Lower East Side neighborhood, now called the East Village neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan of New York City. I ...
as well as numerous other 1960s venues. He recorded two
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
s as leader of the New York Electric String Ensemble, one for
ESP-Disk
ESP-Disk is a New York-based record company and label founded in 1963 by lawyer Bernard Stollman.
History
Though it originally existed to release Esperanto-based music, beginning with its second release (Albert Ayler's ''Spiritual Unity''), ESP ...
. and one for
Columbia Records.
In 1970, he married Marsha Goldstein, moved to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, and turned his talents toward the visual arts.
Visual arts career begins
After a brief period studying
etching
Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...
at the
San Francisco Academy of Art, Talbot started to exhibit and sell his works, at first, limited to etchings and paintings. Talbot belonged to the
San Francisco Artists Cooperative, which was a branch of the
Art Students League of San Francisco and also sold his works on street corners near
Fisherman's Wharf.
Within a few years, Talbot and his wife moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. Later, making a return to the east coast, they moved to
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
where he maintained studios in
Morristown,
Montville, and
South Orange
South Orange, officially the Township of South Orange Village, is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village's population was 16,198, reflecting a decline of 766 (4.5%) fro ...
. While in New Jersey, Talbot exhibited his works at the renowned professional and community art associations, the outdoor
art show
An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhib ...
s, and the regional
galleries that flourished within the preeminent New York metropolitan art market.
During 1973 the Talbots relocated to
Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania following the birth of their first child. They have two children, Loren and Garret.
Solo shows begin
1973 is the year of Jonathan Talbot's first important
solo show, which took place at the Friendship Library of
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...
in
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
. His next solo show also was held in Madison, at
Drew University
Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...
during 1974.
Representation at New York galleries and museums
Talbot first showed his work in
New York at
Associated American Artists—''AAA''—as it is known internationally, during 1975. This is the same year when an etching of Talbot's was included in an exhibition at the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
in New York.
In May of that year, the Talbots moved to Warwick in
Orange County, New York
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 401,310. The county seat is Goshen. This county was first created in 1683 and reorganized with its present boundaries in 1798.
Orange ...
, to be closer to the
galleries in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
that were exhibiting his work. Between 1975 and 1981 Talbot sold etchings through numerous galleries around the United States, as well.
In 1981 his works were included in exhibitions at the
Schenectady Museum, The
Albany Institute of History and Art
The Albany Institute of History & Art (AIHA) is a museum in Albany, New York, United States, "dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting and promoting interest in the history, art, and culture of Albany and the Upper Hudson Valley region". ...
, and at the
National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...
in New York.
National Academy of Design Award
A painting by Jonathan Talbot, ''"Waterfront Buildings, Troy, New York"'', was awarded the
National Academy's Ranger Fund Purchase Award in 1982. Through the fund, the painting awards jury of the academy selects one painting to honor among their exhibition and the recipient is announced at its annual awards ceremony. The painting is purchased from the artist and donated to a nationally recognized museum, also selected by the awards committee.
This award is intended to encourage public interest in American painters and it plays a crucial role in building the
American collections of many public art institutions.
About this time Talbot met the veteran collage artist,
Roderick Slater, who encouraged him to begin experimenting with the medium of
collage. This influence led him to the art form that has become his most significant.
Museum solo shows begin
1984 is the year of Talbot's first solo
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
exhibitions. ''"The Collages of Jonathan Talbot"'' was held at the
Everhart Museum in
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...
in May and ''"The World of Jonathan Talbot"'' was held at The
Byer Museum of the Arts in
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...
in September.
New York solo shows begin
In 1986 Talbot had his first of four solo shows at the
Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer Gallery in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
—the others followed in 1987, 1990, and 1992. Talbot also showed extensively at other venues during that period.
In 1998 Talbot's fifth solo exhibition in
New York, ''"Collages from the Flamenco Series"'' was held at
Joseph Rickards Gallery. This is also the year that the first edition of Talbot's book, ''Collage: A New Approach'', was published, which is still available through
Amazon Books
Amazon Books was a chain of retail bookstores owned by online retailer Amazon. The first store opened on November 2, 2015, in Seattle, Washington. On March 2, 2022, it was reported that all Amazon Books would close on various dates in the futu ...
.
International recognition and lecture series
Since 1998 Talbot's works have been the subject of solo museum exhibitions on both the east and west coasts of the United States and he lectures and teaches widely in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Collections holding works
Among the collections that have acquired the work of Jonathan Talbot are,
*
Academy of Art University
The Academy of Art University (AAU or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. ...
,
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
*
Beach Museum of Art,
Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city and county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. As of the 2020 c ...
*
Centro Murciano de Arte Gráfico y de la Estampa Contemporanea,
Caravaca de la Cruz,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
*
Coos Art Museum,
Coos Bay, Oregon
Coos Bay ( Coos language: Atsixiis) is a city located in Coos County, Oregon, United States, where the Coos River enters Coos Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The city borders the city of North Bend, and together they are often referred to as one ent ...
*
Davidson Print Collection,
Elon College
Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, Elon is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or professional doctorate ...
,
Elon, North Carolina
Elon () is a town in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington metropolitan statistical area. The population as of the 2020 census was 11,324. The town of Elon is home to Elon University.
Elon began in 1881 as ...
*
Drew University
Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...
,
Madison, New Jersey
Madison is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 16,937.
Located along the Morris & Essex Lines, it is noted for Madison's historic railroad station becoming on ...
*
Eastern Connecticut State University
Eastern Connecticut State University (Eastern, Eastern Connecticut, Eastern Connecticut State, or ECSU) is a public liberal arts university in Willimantic, Connecticut. Founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest campus in the Connecticut State Un ...
,
Willimantic, Connecticut
Willimantic is a city located in the town of Windham in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. It is a former Census-designated place and borough, and is currently organized as one of two tax districts within the Town of Windham. Known as " ...
*
Everhart Museum,
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...
*
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...
, Madison, New Jersey
*
Free Library of Philadelphia
The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves Philadelphia. It is the 13th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the City of Philadelphia gover ...
,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
*
Georgetown University Fine Print Collection,
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
*
Housatonic Museum of Art,
Bridgeport, Connecticut
*
Longview Museum of Fine Arts,
Longview, Texas
Longview is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, and county seat of Gregg County; a small part of Longview extends into the western portion of neighboring Harrison County. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highways ...
*
Maitland Art Center,
Maitland, Florida
*
Middletown Thrall Library,
Middletown, New York
*
Montclair Art Museum
The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) is located in Montclair, New Jersey, United States, a few miles west of New York City. Since it opened in 1914 as the first museum in New Jersey that granted access to the public and the first dedicated solely to a ...
,
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. ...
*
Musée ArtColle,
Plemet, France
*
NCS Teaching Collection: Kent State University
Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in ...
,
Kent, Ohio
*
Newark Museum
The Newark Museum of Art (formerly known as the Newark Museum), in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, A ...
,
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.[Oakwood Friends School
Oakwood Friends School is a college preparatory school located at 22 Spackenkill Road in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. With roots going back to Nine Partners Boarding School, founded in 1796, it is the oldest co-educational boarding and d ...]
,
Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
*
Provincetown History Preservation Project,
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...
*
Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University (SHU) is a private, Catholic university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded in 1963 by the Most Reverend Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart was the first Catholic uni ...
,
Fairfield, Connecticut
*
San Diego Museum of Art
The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...
,
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...
*
Smith College Museum,
Northampton, Massachusetts
*
Toronto Central Library,
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, Ontario, Canada
*
Muzeum Okręgowe w Toruniu,
Toruń
)''
, image_skyline =
, image_caption =
, image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg
, image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg
, nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town
, pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
Arts map
Talbot collaborated with Robin Colodzin as they created
The Arts Map, an electronic, international reference tool that enabled viewers to obtain detailed information about many types of artists and related institutions and businesses by their location as well as by name and type. The project was begun in late 2009 and was published until October 2013.
Books by Talbot
Talbot has authored three books. Two are on collage or related skills for artists and one is a guide for achieving success by artists in general. They are,
* ''The Artist's Marketing and Action Plan Workbook'', Jonathan Talbot with Geoffry Howard and illustrated by Loel Barr
* ''Acrylic Image Transfer: A Handbook for Artists'', Jonathan Talbot with Jessica Lawrence
* ''Collage: A New Approach'', Collage without liquid adhesives, Jonathan Talbot, which is in its fifth edition
Books about Talbot
In May 2014, a book by Deborah K. Snider was published on the collages of Jonathan Talbot, the history of collage, and Jonathan's place in that history. The publication includes full-color reproductions of thirty-three of Talbot's works and the artist's commentaries on them and their evolution.
* ''The Collages of Jonathan Talbot'', Snider, Deborah K., with essay by Andrew Marvick
ent-Marvick Royal Fireworks Press, May, 2014
See also
* an annotated bibliography on the artist's website
* Listing in ''
Who's Who in American Art
''Who's Who in American Art'' is a biographical hardcover directory of noteworthy individuals in the visual arts community in the United States, published by Marquis Who's Who,"Who's Who in American Art 2011 – Publications", Marquis Who's Who, ...
''
* Listing in ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers of the United States, Colonial Era to 2002'', Volume Two, 2002, H. H. Caplan, Bob Creps, Howard Creps, Dealer's Choice Books, , 9780966852615
* ''Collage of Conscience'', Orange Magazine, January and February, 1989 pp. 40–44
* ''Collage Techniques'', Gerald Brommer, Watson Guptill -
References
External links
Official web site of Jonathan TalbotAsk Art listing for Jonathan TalbotExhibition of traditional and digital collage curated by Jonathan Talbot in 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Jonathan
1939 births
Living people
People from New Jersey
American collage artists
20th-century American painters
American male painters
21st-century American painters
21st-century American male artists
American engravers
American classical violinists
American classical guitarists
People from Warwick, New York
American male writers
20th-century American printmakers
20th-century American male artists
20th-century engravers