Series LA.SC114.S1 - Photographs

Identity area

Reference code

LA.SC114.S1

Title

Photographs

Date(s)

  • [191-?]-[198-] (Creation)

Level of description

Series

Extent and medium

239 photographs (prints, slides, negatives)
1 photograph album
1 matchbook

Context area

Name of creator

(1919-1988)

Biographical 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.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Series consists of photographs of Iskowitz’s family; images of Kielce, Poland; portraits of the artist and images of his studio; photographs of exhibition openings; and images of art works. Series includes one album, largely empty, containing photographs of Iskowitz from the mid-late 1940s. Series also includes a hand-crafted book of matches, the cover of which is made from photographs of a group seated at a banquet table (perhaps at the 1972 Venice Biennale?).

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open. Access to Special Collections is by appointment only. Please contact the reference desk for more information.

Conditions governing reproduction

Various copyright holders. It is the researcher’s responsibility to obtain permission to publish any part of the fonds/collection.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Generated finding aid

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Note

Physical condition: Photograph album is in poor condition and is missing a majority of its photographs.

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Edward P. Taylor Library and Archives, Art Gallery of Ontario

Rules and/or conventions used

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Originally prepared in 2009

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

Sources

Accession area

Related subjects

Related people and organizations

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