BERGER’S BOLD CANVASES
Seven paintings and prints by Boston-born artist David Berger are on view at the inaugural exhibition of Alan Rosenberg — Works of Art, a new Manhattan gallery of 20th-century art and design. Berger’s Expressionist artworks are accompanied by sterling silver hollowware by Allan Adler, Danish ceramics, glass from Finland and Dunbar furniture by Edward Wormley. Rosenberg said that the new gallery’s goal is to “show art of the mid-20th century in the context in which it was originally seen, with furniture and decorative arts of the same period.” He described the gallery as having the ambience of a private home.
Berger, who died at the tender age of 46 in 1966, has recently received renewed attention along with a group of other figurative Expressionist artists active in Boston during the 1940s and 1950s with whom Berger was affiliated. Berger (pronounced ber-jer) studied at the Massachusetts College of Art and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy in Michigan. His richly colored — and textured — oil-on-canvas paintings were exhibited in several one-man shows during the 1950s.
Rosenberg, an art and design historian turned dealer, first discovered Berger’s art while working for an antiques dealer who had two of Berger’s paintings. Rosenberg said he immediately fell in love with them. Through contacts provided by Berger’s family, Rosenberg was able to track down several more paintings by Berger, and he said is pleased to be highlighting the little-known artist in his gallery’s first exhibition.
Alan Rosenberg — Works of Art, 46 E. 65th St.; summer hours through Aug. 22, Mon.-Fri. noon-6 p.m.; free. (212-288-2805)
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