Ilya Bolotowsky and Esphyr Slobodkina, co-founders
of the American Abstract Artists group

Ilya Bolotowsky (American, born Russia. 1907–1981)
Untitled (study related to Williamsburg Housing Project Mural), c. 1936
Pencil, ink, and gouache on illustration board, 6 1/4 x 13 1/2” (14 x 29 cm)
Signed on the artist’s behalf by Esphyr Slobodkina

“When, finally, in 1936, The Museum of Modern Art offered its public an exhibition of Cubist and Abstract Art, only European artists were included. Abstract artists did exist in America, but contact with their public was all but entirely denied them.” According to Esphyr Slobodkina’s recollections, it was this situation that led to the formation of the American Abstract Artists group in November 1936.

Slobodkina and her then husband Ilya Bolotowsky were co-founders of the group, which included Josef Albers, Burgoyne Diller, Balcomb Greene, Alice Trumbull Mason, and George L. K. Morris, among others.

Today we share original drawings by Bolotowsky (above) and Slobodkina (below), along with reproductions of their works in publications of the American Abstract Artists group also found in the collection.

Esphyr Slobodkina (American, born Russia. 1908–2002)
Untitled (inscribed: “sketch for one of the first abstractions”), c. 1940
Pencil on paper, 6 x 5 1/8” (16 x 13 cm), image

Cover and plates from: American Abstract Artists 1938:
Paintings, Constructions, Sculptures, Reliefs, Essays, Collage,
Gouache, Watercolour, Papier Collé, Paintings, Constructions.
New York: American Abstract Artists, 1938
9 1/4 x 6 1/8” (24 x 16 cm)

Cover and plates from: American Abstract Artists 1939.
New York: American Abstract Artists, 1939
10 x 7 1/2” (25.5 x 20 cm)

Cover and plates from: American Abstract Artists.
New York: American Abstract Artists, 1946
9 1/4 x 6 1/4” (23.5 x 16 cm)

April 18, 2022