John Russell review, John Weber Gallery, 1980
Vivien Raynor review, Alexander Milliken Gallery, 1981
The review by John Russell has a back story.
My father was a sculpture conservator at the Museum of Modern Art. One afternoon while the Invitational at the John Weber was on, he was working on a project at MoMA when he received a phone call from the gallery, asking him to bring a black and white photograph of one of his paintings to an address on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. He was a bit irritated at the interruption, but nevertheless he left the museum to do it.
A few hours later, I got a call from my mother, asking me to come over to their apartment. When I got there, she suggested I sit down and said that my father had something to tell me. Which was this:
He had gone down to his studio, picked up the photo, and then up to the address he had been given by the gallery to drop it off. He asked the doorman to call Mr. Weber's apartment. The doorman apologized and said they did not have a Mr. Weber in the building. My father, upset and frustrated, told the doorman that was the address he had been given. The doorman, being both kind and a pro, inquired as to what Mr. Weber did. When my father explained, the doorman said, "We have a Mr. John Russell living here ..."
And then it clicked.
He asked the doorman to please call Mr. Russell's apartment and see if he was expecting Henry Cohen. Which he was.
John Russell had gone to the gallery and was so impressed with the paintings that he decided he wanted to meet my father to interview him for his review. He requested the photo so he could run it with the review in Sunday's New York Times Arts section. Unfortunately, the photo was ultimately bumped to accommodate the sculpture show in the Battery. But this review, of which my father was justifiably proud, ran.
One more thing: he tweaked his age for the piece. He was actually 66.
Inside front cover, "Art in America", May 1981 issue
pages from catalog for group exhibition at the summit art center with introduction by curator meg raftis, april - may, 1982
Press release, spectrum gallery, 1966
Installation, spectrum gallery, 1966
Flier for group exhibition and discussion at Loeb Center, New york university, c.1965
modern artists guild Installation at lever house, c. 1966
In the studio, 1968 (photo credit: Rocky Weldon)
"breccia", pen and ink DRAWING, 1980