Iskowitz, Gershon

Identity area

Type of entity

Person

Authorized form of name

Iskowitz, Gershon

Parallel form(s) of name

Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

Other form(s) of name

  • Ickowicz, Gerszon

Identifiers for corporate bodies

Description area

Dates of existence

1919-1988

History

Gershon Iskowitz (1919-1988) was an abstract painter based in Toronto for much of his artistic career. Born in Kielce, Poland on 24 November 1919, 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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Functions, occupations and activities

Mandates/sources of authority

Internal structures/genealogy

General context

Relationships area

Related entity

Gershon Iskowitz Foundation (1985-)

Identifier of related entity

Category of relationship

associative

Dates of relationship

Description of relationship

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Control area

Authority record identifier

http://viaf.org/viaf/62941843

Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

Status

Final

Level of detail

Partial

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Created 2 October 2018. Date of birth revised on 28 June 2023 to reflect new, authoritative research undertaken by the Gershon Iskowitz Foundation.

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

Sources

Document "Confirmation of Gershon Iskowitz's Correct Date of Birth", Gershon Iskowitz Foundation, November 23, 2022. A copy of this document has been saved in the administrative file for this fonds and may be viewed on request. Please contact the Library & Archives.

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