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American
(1887–1939)
Birds, Sky, Water and Grass
1938
Casein on Fir-Tex board
36 x 30 x 2.5 in.
Gift of Kathryn C. Wanlass in memory of Ralph Page Wanlass
1986.27
This painting, created a year before his death, serves as a summation of Ben Berlin’s life. An early progressive painter in Southern California, he explored cubism during the 1920s and early 1930s, then surrealism after 1935, largely through still lifes, a popular modernist idiom. He was encouraged by his friends Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg, founders of the group now known as Post-Surrealism. The contradictory term “still life” appealed to the surrealists because of their fascination with the irrational, and would have especially intrigued Berlin, whose personal activities and professional career were constantly interrupted, and unfortunately affected, by his addiction to alcohol. He often regained consciousness after a blackout to realize he had lost most of his possessions, including paintings. Consequently, very few of his works are known.
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