Iskowitz, Gershon

Identity area

Type of entity

Person

Authorized form of name

Iskowitz, Gershon

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        Description area

        Dates of existence

        1921-1988

        History

        Gershon Iskowitz (1921-1988) was an abstract painter based in Toronto for much of his artistic career. Born in Kielce, Poland, he survived internment in Nazi concentration camps and lost his entire family in the Holocaust. Iskowitz studied art in Munich at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in 1947, soon transferring to private studies with Oskar Kokoschka. He moved to Toronto in 1949. His work developed from wartime imagery to a focus on landscapes (particularly inspired by practice in the Parry Sound area), eventually arriving at his mature abstract expressionist style in 1967. Iskowitz began exhibiting with Gallery Moos in 1964, a relationship which continued throughout his career. He taught at the New School (Toronto) from 1967-1970, and his informal mentoring of artists in Toronto is often noted. Iskowitz, along with Walter Redinger, represented Canada at the Venice Biennale in 1972. The artist established the Gershon Iskowitz Foundation in 1985, with the mandate of awarding the Gershon Iskowitz Prize to a mature practising artist; since 2007 the Foundation has partnered with the Art Gallery of Ontario to administer the Gershon Iskowitz Prize at the AGO.

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        General context

        Relationships area

        Related entity

        Gershon Iskowitz Foundation (1985-)

        Identifier of related entity

        AGOAC00451

        Category of relationship

        associative

        Dates of relationship

        1985 - 1988

        Description of relationship

        Gershon Iskowitz founded the Gershon Iskowitz Foundation in 1985. Iskowitz passed away in 1988.

        Access points area

        Subject access points

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        Occupations

        Artist

        Note

        Iskowitz was an abstract painter.

        Control area

        Authority record identifier

        AGOAC00461

        Institution identifier

        ON00012

        Rules and/or conventions used

        Status

        Final

        Level of detail

        Partial

        Dates of creation, revision and deletion

        August 9, 2013

        Language(s)

        • English

        Script(s)

          Sources

          Canadiana Authorities

          Maintenance notes