John Opper, 85, Abstract Painter
John Opper, an abstract painter affiliated with the New York School, died on Tuesday at his home in Amagansett, L.I. He was 85 and also had homes in Greenwich Village and Sarasota, Fla.
The cause was a heart attack, said his daughter, Jane, of New York City.
In a career that spanned nearly six decades and combined aspects of Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting, Mr. Opper became known for vibrantly colored paintings in which soft, cloudlike forms, or elongated plinths jostled gently against each other.
By American standards an early convert to abstraction, he was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists group, which was formed in 1936. He had his first solo show in 1937, at the Artists' Gallery, an early downtown gallery, and was represented for nearly 30 years by the Grace Borgenicht Gallery. A retrospective of his work was held at the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1990.
Mr. Opper was born in Chicago and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland School of Art and the Hans Hoffman School in New York. He taught for many years at New York University. His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the National Museum of American Art in Washington, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
Mr. Opper's wife, Estelle, to whom he was married for 60 years, died in July. In addition to his daughter, he is survived by a son, Joseph; six granddaughters, all of New York City, and two sisters, Sylvia Brandt of New York City, and Anne Waldman of Beverly Hills, Calif.
Published: October 7, 1994 New York Times
John Opper, an abstract painter affiliated with the New York School, died on Tuesday at his home in Amagansett, L.I. He was 85 and also had homes in Greenwich Village and Sarasota, Fla.
The cause was a heart attack, said his daughter, Jane, of New York City.
In a career that spanned nearly six decades and combined aspects of Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting, Mr. Opper became known for vibrantly colored paintings in which soft, cloudlike forms, or elongated plinths jostled gently against each other.
By American standards an early convert to abstraction, he was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists group, which was formed in 1936. He had his first solo show in 1937, at the Artists' Gallery, an early downtown gallery, and was represented for nearly 30 years by the Grace Borgenicht Gallery. A retrospective of his work was held at the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1990.
Mr. Opper was born in Chicago and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland School of Art and the Hans Hoffman School in New York. He taught for many years at New York University. His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the National Museum of American Art in Washington, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
Mr. Opper's wife, Estelle, to whom he was married for 60 years, died in July. In addition to his daughter, he is survived by a son, Joseph; six granddaughters, all of New York City, and two sisters, Sylvia Brandt of New York City, and Anne Waldman of Beverly Hills, Calif.
Published: October 7, 1994 New York Times
John Opper, 85, Abstract Painter
John Opper, an abstract painter affiliated with the New York School, died on Tuesday at his home in Amagansett, L.I. He was 85 and also had homes in Greenwich Village and Sarasota, Fla.
The cause was a heart attack, said his daughter, Jane, of New York City.
In a career that spanned nearly six decades and combined aspects of Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting, Mr. Opper became known for vibrantly colored paintings in which soft, cloudlike forms, or elongated plinths jostled gently against each other.
By American standards an early convert to abstraction, he was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists group, which was formed in 1936. He had his first solo show in 1937, at the Artists' Gallery, an early downtown gallery, and was represented for nearly 30 years by the Grace Borgenicht Gallery. A retrospective of his work was held at the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1990.
Mr. Opper was born in Chicago and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland School of Art and the Hans Hoffman School in New York. He taught for many years at New York University. His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the National Museum of American Art in Washington, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
Mr. Opper's wife, Estelle, to whom he was married for 60 years, died in July. In addition to his daughter, he is survived by a son, Joseph; six granddaughters, all of New York City, and two sisters, Sylvia Brandt of New York City, and Anne Waldman of Beverly Hills, Calif.
Published: October 7, 1994 New York Times
John Opper, an abstract painter affiliated with the New York School, died on Tuesday at his home in Amagansett, L.I. He was 85 and also had homes in Greenwich Village and Sarasota, Fla.
The cause was a heart attack, said his daughter, Jane, of New York City.
In a career that spanned nearly six decades and combined aspects of Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting, Mr. Opper became known for vibrantly colored paintings in which soft, cloudlike forms, or elongated plinths jostled gently against each other.
By American standards an early convert to abstraction, he was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists group, which was formed in 1936. He had his first solo show in 1937, at the Artists' Gallery, an early downtown gallery, and was represented for nearly 30 years by the Grace Borgenicht Gallery. A retrospective of his work was held at the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1990.
Mr. Opper was born in Chicago and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland School of Art and the Hans Hoffman School in New York. He taught for many years at New York University. His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the National Museum of American Art in Washington, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
Mr. Opper's wife, Estelle, to whom he was married for 60 years, died in July. In addition to his daughter, he is survived by a son, Joseph; six granddaughters, all of New York City, and two sisters, Sylvia Brandt of New York City, and Anne Waldman of Beverly Hills, Calif.
Published: October 7, 1994 New York Times
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