Draft:Gerda Tasgal Kliegman

Gerda Tasgal-Kliegman headshot.jpg
Gerda Tasgal-Kliegman (born Gerda Tasgal; October 31, 1908–December 29, 1996) was an American abstract expressionist painter. , sculptor, concert pianist, actor, teacher, and visual artist active in the New York City area and across America. She received her early academic training Degrees from Hunter College (NYC) and Julliard School of Music (NYC), and was an award-winning scholar, student & instructor. Additionally, she was a Frank Sheridan Scholar at the Mannes College of Music at The New School (NYC) student and instructor, Music School Settlement (NYC), piano instructor and Frank Sheridan-Leon Kroll scholar at Playhouse in the Hills.

Gerda’s exposure to post-impressionism at the newly opened Museum of Modern Art in 1930s facilitated a deep passion for the diversity of modern art. Gerda’s hunger for art and inspiration was harnessed by classical training with well-known masters such as: Rudolf Jacobi, Master Institute Art, 1937-1939; Boris Solotareff, Master Institute Art, 1937-1939;  Oronzio Maldarelli;  Hans Hofmann, Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts, 1940-1943;  Shiko Munakata, Graphic Arts Centre, Pratt Institute, 1959-60 and Rose Fried, Rose Fried Gallery, NYC, 1960.

Techniques
Post-war American Art, NY Style avant-garde abstract expressionism, cubism, ﬁgurative, realism, surrealism, art deco, whimsical and composite.

Notable Master Training
Gerda spent many years honing her skills in abstract expressionism with the master painter Hans Hofmann whose “illusion of space, depth, and even movement on a canvas could be created abstractly using color and shape, rather than representational forms.” Today, there still exists 30 original drawings crafted by Gerda under the direction of Hans. Additionally, she developed her award-winning sculpture skills with Oronzio Maldarelli, “best known for sculptures of female forms in which volume, mass, and contour are overriding concerns” as noted by the Smithsonian Institution. Oronzio taught at Columbia University across the street from Gerda's home and they were fanciful friends and art colleagues for many years.

While attending the Master Art Institute, Gerda found a passion for figurative and nudes under the direction of master Boris Solotaref, who used of a variety of styles; according to the Benezit Dictionary of Artists, his "work was in the mainstream of Eastern European Expressionism, with influences of Art Deco from the time when he lived in Paris" as noted by the Smithsonian Institution During the warmer months in NY, Gerda spent many springs and summers in North Fork and Southold Long Island with master painter Rudolf Jacobi, where she immersed herself in filling hundreds of canvases with the landscapes, marine life, indigenous animals and the traditional territories of the beautiful area. Her work is still noted by the Southold Museum, and available in her private collection.

From 1959 to 1960 Gerda attended the Graphic Arts Centre, Pratt Institute, where she was aligned with master artist Shiko Munakata. Shiko was born in Japan and was a well-known woodblock print artist best recognized for his black and white prints and his expressive, sketch-like lines. He was an internationally known woodblock artist whose works featured Buddhist images and historic Japanese scenes. Also, during this time period (1960s), Gerda was working closely with Rose Fried, whose gallery specialized in cutting edge NY style abstract and modern art, and represented visionary cubists, futurists, and masters of American art.

Media
Oil paint, assemblage, calligraphic, acrylic, pastels, watercolor, charcoal, pencil, pen, sculptures in plaster and bronze, and Japanese woodblock (ukiyo-e).

1930 to 1982 Memberships and Offices
National Association of Women Artists-Program Committees; Knickerbocker Artists-Executive Board; Artists Equity Association New York; the Allied Artists of America and the Actors’ Equity Association.

1930 to 1966 Nationwide Recognition
Award-winning exhibits with The National Association of Women Artists, the Artist Equity Association, as well as a First Prize for Sculpture with the Knickerbocker Artists. Additionally, Gerda received numerous accolades from The New York Times, The Long Island Traveler , The Riverhead News, The Patchogue Advance , The Bergen Record , The Fresno Bee Newspaper , The Winona Daily News & The Orlando Sentinel

The New York City WPA Federal Art Project
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) During the Great Depression, Gerda joined the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art program through the New York City Board of Education at Astor Place, creating and exhibiting her Harlem derived Afrocentric drawings which are still available for viewing today in her private collection.

Active Membership 1950 to 1982
The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists. As a long-standing member, juried and committee member, Gerda was very involved in the organization from coast to coast with Exhibits in NYC, Orlando FL, Chicago, IL, Minneapolis, MN and Fresno CA.  

NAWA exhibits and committee standings include:


 * 1950 NYC: “Figures with Instruments” (oil exhibit)
 * “Studio Model” (watercolor exhibit)
 * 1951 NYC: Catalogue Committee member
 * "Sabina" (pen & ink exhibit)
 * "Quartet II" (Oil Exhibit Winner)
 * 1953 CA:    Program Committee member
 * “Dancing in Spring” (watercolor exhibit) (Fresno, CA)
 * 1954 MN:   “Dancing in Spring” (watercolor exhibit) (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
 * 1974 NYC: “Up” Jockey Hollow Creek Series (oil exhibit)
 * 1975 NYC: “Jonathan” in Bronze (Sculpture Exhibit Winner)

1947 to 1975 Exhibits:

 * 1947-1958: Argent Gallery, NYC (Artist Equity Association)
 * 1947-1959: Laurel Gallery, NYC (Artist Equity Association)
 * 1947, 1949, 1959: Arthur Brown & Co., NYC (Artist Equity Association)
 * 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951: Southold Playhouse, Southold NY
 * 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951: Southold Museum, Southold NY
 * 1947-1966 NYPL Museum of Performing Arts, NYC
 * 1949-1960: Contemporary Arts Gallery, NYC (Artist Equity Association)
 * 1950, 1951, 1952: Easthampton Art Guild, East Hampton, NY
 * 1950, 1952: National Academy of Design, NYC
 * 1950, 1952, 1962: Old Town Arts Guild, Cutchogue, NY
 * 1950: Whitney Museum, NYC
 * 1953: Lehigh Art Gallery, Bethlehem, PA
 * 1954: Massillon Museum, Massillon, OH
 * 1952-1966: Riverside Museum, NYC
 * 1957: Bergen Museum of Arts & Science, Bergen, NJ
 * 1959: Brown Gallery, NYC
 * 1960: Joslyn Memorial Art Museum, Omaha, NE
 * 1964: Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM
 * 1975: Lincoln Center, NYC
 * The National Galleries, NYC: dates unknown
 * Lever House, NYC: dates unknown

Permanent Installations
US Education Foundation Archives of American Art, Knickerbocker Artist, Old Town Arts Guild, Easthampton Guild Village Art Center Secondary Sources: Gerda Tasgal-Kliegman Curriculum Vitae and Kliegman Family, Oral History.

Private life
Ms. Gerda Tasgal-Kliegman, the middle of three children, was born into a working-class family in 1908 (Harry & Sarah (Halperin) Tasgal. After her parents' divorce, young Gerda immersed herself in the arts and eventually became an accomplished Juilliard scholar pianist, an Actors Equity Association contracted performer, and an award-winning, museum worthy Artist.



Here she is pictured with her only child, son Jonathan, circa 1940. Dr. Jonathan Morris Kliegman, Ph.D. (1936-2021) is also featured in several of the artist's paintings and sculptures, as is his father and Gerda's husband, Attorney Israel "Stumpy" Kliegman, Esq (1908-1963).

Gerda never remarried after Stumpy's premature death from a heart attack at age 55 in 1963. She remained in the family's apartment on the upper West Side (430 116th Street) of Manhattan adjacent to Columbia University, where she also gave private piano and art lessons, from the 1940s until the late 1980s when she entered a nursing home. Gerda Tasgal-Kliegman died in 1996 at age 88 and she is predeceased by her granddaughter Deborah Susan Kliegman, MSW who resides in Morristown, New Jersey.