Jonathan Talbot, (born November 14, 1939) is an American collage artist, painter, and printmaker. He also is the creator of an innovative collage technique that eliminates liquid adhesives from the collage assembly process. His technique is the subject of his book, Collage: A New Approach.
Talbot's works have been exhibited at The National Academy and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His artwork has represented the United States in exhibitions sponsored by the U. S. State Department as well as by the Smithsonian Institution. His works are included in permanent museum collections in United States, Canada, and Europe. His studio is in Warwick, New York.
Talbot is best known for his collages and multi-dimensional collage-constructions, as well as, for his oil, watercolors, and etching.
Talbot is the son of artist, Helen Talbot, who exhibited in New York in the early 1930s, and he was raised on a family farm in upstate New York in Putnam County.
A youthful portrait of Jonathan Talbot was painted by the noted artist and illustrator, Arthur Lidov, [1] and it appeared on the cover of the December 1947 issue of The American Mercury magazine. Shortly thereafter Talbot was enrolled in the Hessian Hills School founded by Elizabeth Moos, a notably progressive school in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, where the educational focus was on the arts.
He spent many summers during the 1950s living in the village of Menemsha on Martha's Vineyard, an island which at that time, was the summer home of many artists and members of the creative arts. Painter Thomas Hart Benton, lyricist E. Y. "Yip" Harburg, the author of Brother Can you Spare a Dime, and Peter Coyote, who would become an actor, were among the influences upon Talbot's early artistic efforts.
Talbot's first creative efforts were in music. A self-taught musician, Talbot's musical career included performances at Carnegie Hall and Fillmore East as well as numerous other 1960s venues. He recorded two album as leader of the New York Electric String Ensemble, one for ESP-Disk and one for Columbia Records.
In 1970 he married Marsha Goldstein, moved to San Francisco, and turned his talents toward the visual arts.
After a brief period studying etching at the San Francisco Academy of Art, Talbot started to exhibit and sell his works, at first, limited to etchings and paintings. Talbot belonged to the San Francisco Artists Cooperative, which was a branch of the Art Students League of San Francisco and also sold his works on street corners near Fisherman's Wharf.
Within a few years, Talbot and his wife moved to Los Angeles. Later, making a return to the east coast, they moved to New Jersey where he maintained studios in Morristown, Montville, and South Orange. While in New Jersey, Talbot exhibited his works at the renowned professional and community art associations, the outdoor art show, and the regional galleries that flourished within the preeminent New York metropolitan art market.
During 1973 the Talbots relocated to Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania following the birth of their first child. They have two children, Loren and Garret.
1973 is the year of Jonathan Talbot's first important solo show, which took place at the Friendship Library of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison. His next solo show also was held in Madison, at Drew University during 1974.
Representation at New York Galleries and Museumsmoreless
Talbot first showed his work in New York at Associated American Artists...AAA...as it is known internationally, during early 1975. This is the same year when an etching of Talbot's was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In May of that year, the Talbots moved to Warwick in Orange County, New York, to be closer to the galleries in Manhattan that were exhibiting his work. Between 1975 and 1981 Talbot sold etchings through numerous galleries around the United States, as well.
In 1981 his works were included in exhibitions at the Schenectady Museum, The Albany Institute of History and Art, and at the National Academy of Design in New York.
A painting by Jonathan Talbot, "Waterfront Buildings, Troy, New York", was awarded the National Academy's Ranger Fund Purchase Award in 1982. Through the fund, the painting awards jury of the academy selects one painting to honor among their exhibition and the recipient is announced at its annual awards ceremony. The painting is purchased from the artist and donated to a nationally-recognized museum, also selected by the awards committee.
This award is intended to encourage public interest in American painters and it plays a crucial role in building the American collection of many public art institutions. [2]
About this time Talbot met the veteran collage artist, Roderick Slater, [3] who encouraged him to begin experimenting with the medium of collage. This influence led him to the art form that has become his most significant.
1984 is the year of Talbot's first solo museum exhibitions. "The Collages of Jonathan Talbot" was held at the Everhart Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania in May and "The World of Jonathan Talbot" was held at The Byer Museum of the Arts in Evanston, Illinois in September.
In 1986 Talbot had his first of four solo shows at the Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer Gallery in Manhattan...the others followed in 1987, 1990, and 1992. Talbot also showed extensively at other venues during that period.
In 1998 Talbot's fifth solo exhibition in New York, "Collages from the Flamenco Series" was held at Joseph Rickards Gallery. This is also the year that the first edition of Talbot's book, Collage: A New Approach, was published, which is still available through Amazon Books.
International Recognition and Lecture Seriesmoreless
Since 1998 Talbot's works have been the subject of solo museum exhibitions on both the east and west coasts of the United States and he lectures and teaches widely in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Talbot has collaborated with Robin Colodzin as they created The Arts Map,[4] an electronic, international reference tool that enables viewers to obtain detailed information about many types of artists and related institutions and businesses by their location as well as by name and type.
an annotated bibliography on the artist's web site
Listing in Who's Who in American Art
Listing in The Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers of the United States, Colonial Era to 2002, Volume Two, 2002, H. H. Caplan, Bob Creps, Howard Creps, Dealer's Choice Books, ISBN # 0-966852613, 9780966852615
Collage of Conscience, Orange Magazine, January and February, 1989 pp. 40-44
Collage Techniques, Gerald Brommer, Watson Guptill - ISBN # 0-8230-0655-7
