Larry Rivers was born in the Bronx, New York as Larry Grossberg. In 1940 he began a musical career as a jazz saxophonist and changed his name to Rivers. He spent 1942 in the Air Force by was declared medically unfit for service in 1943. Until 1945 he worked as a saxophonist in various jazz bands in the New York area including the group Larry Rivers and the Mudcats. In 1944-45 he studied theory of music and composition at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. His first encounter with visual arts was through a musical motif based on a painting by George Braque. He began painting in 1945. In 1947-48 he studied at the Hans Hofmann School. In 1948 he studied under William Baziotes at New York University and met Williem de Kooning. In 1949 he had his first one-man exhibition at the Jane Street Gallery, New York. In 1951 he graduated in art from New York University and met Jackson Pollock. Rivers traveled in England, France, and Italy and returned to try his hand at sculpture. In 1953, he settled in New York and continued to paint and sculpt. Since the mid-1950's he developed a characteristic image rooted in cubism, fragmentation and simultaneity. His re-examination of American history and old masters paintings seen in reproduction has particularly intrigued him. He was not exactly a pop artist but does share the concern for the everyday image while differing in the degree of expressionist commentary. During these years he continued making and exhibiting art, playing in jazz bands and collaborating with poet Kenneth Koch on a collection of picture poems. In 1961 he married Clarice Price, an art and music teacher of Welsh extraction. Rivers' mother-in-law was the subject of many of his paintings and reportedly supported him after her daughter and he were divoriced. These portraits show the artist's primary interest in drawing...he apllied the paint and then wiped it off with turpentine soaked rags. The canvas reveals all the changes incurred by the artist as the works developed. The technique resulted in a sense of multiple imagery like time lapse photography.
Rivers viewed a canvas as a flat field to be covered with pictorial information rather than as a window through which scenes are exposed to view, the popular opinion. In 1957, Rivers won $32,000.00 on a quiz show answering questions on contemporary art. He continued his involvement with jazz and in 1960 formed a group called the Upper Bohemian Six. During this time he added set design and acting to his activities as well as expanding his mediums to spray paint, air brush and video. He died in 2002, remaining creative his entire life.
Larry Rivers was born in the Bronx, New York as Larry Grossberg. In 1940 he began a musical career as a jazz saxophonist and changed his name to Rivers. He spent 1942 in the Air Force by was declared medically unfit for service in 1943. Until 1945 he worked as a saxophonist in various jazz bands in the New York area including the group Larry Rivers and the Mudcats. In 1944-45 he studied theory of music and composition at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. His first encounter with visual arts was through a musical motif based on a painting by George Braque. He began painting in 1945. In 1947-48 he studied at the Hans Hofmann School. In 1948 he studied under William Baziotes at New York University and met Williem de Kooning. In 1949 he had his first one-man exhibition at the Jane Street Gallery, New York. In 1951 he graduated in art from New York University and met Jackson Pollock. Rivers traveled in England, France, and Italy and returned to try his hand at sculpture. In 1953, he settled i
n New York and continued to paint and sculpt. Since the mid-1950's he developed a characteristic image rooted in cubism, fragmentation and simultaneity. His re-examination of American history and old masters paintings seen in reproduction has particularly intrigued him. He was not exactly a pop artist but does share the concern for the everyday image while differing in the degree of expressionist commentary. During these years he continued making and exhibiting art, playing in jazz bands and collaborating with poet Kenneth Koch on a collection of picture poems. In 1961 he married Clarice Price, an art and music teacher of Welsh extraction. Rivers' mother-in-law was the subject of many of his paintings and reportedly supported him after her daughter and he were divoriced. These portraits show the artist's primary interest in drawing...he apllied the paint and then wiped it off with turpentine soaked rags. The canvas reveals all the changes incurred by the artist as the works developed. The technique resulted in a sense of multiple imagery like time lapse photography.
tinued his involvement with jazz and in 1960 formed a group called the Upper Bohemian Six. During this time he added set design and acting to his activities as well as expanding his mediums to spray paint, air brush and video. He died in 2002, remaining creative his entire life.