Theodoros Stamos (American/Greek, 1997)

Theodoros Stamos (American/Greek, 1922–1997) became known as one of the youngest of the group of Abstract Expressionists working in New York in the 1940s and 1950s. Stamos was born in New York, into a family of Greek immigrants. After studying at the American Artists School in the 1930s, his artistic style developed in the late 1940s to incorporate muted colors and organic shapes, an aesthetic he would maintain for the majority of his life. In the late 1980s, Stamos began painting his surfaces thick with paint, and his geometric shapes increasingly resembled abstract compositions. Stamos participated in the 1945 Whitney Biennial, and in 1946 the Museum of Modern Art acquired one of his paintings. The Museum also included his work in the landmark exhibition, The New American Painting, which introduced Abstract Expressionism to European audiences in 1958. Between the late 1940s and the 1990s, he exhibited regularly in New York. Stamos, who lived in New York and on the island of Lefkada, Greece, died in 1997 at the age of 74.

Timeline

1922
Born: in New York, NY
1936
Studied sculpture, under Simon Kennedy and Joseph Kouzal, at the American Artist School, New York, NY
1951
Received the Tiffany Foundation Fellowship
1950–1954
Taught at the Black Mountain College, Asheville, NC
1955
Instructor at the Art Students League, New York, NY
1956
National Institute of Arts and Letters Award, New York, NY
1959
Brandeis University Creative Arts Award, Waltham, MA
1966
Lecturer at the School of Fine Arts, Columbia University, New York, NY
1967
National Arts Foundation Award, Washington, D.C.
Mainichi Newspaper Prize, Tokyo International
1967–1968
Taught at the Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
1997
Died: in Yannina, Greece

Exhibitions

2012
Ethnos/Techne: Theodoros Stamos and Michael Michaeledes. Debra Force Fine Arts, New York, NY
2011–2012
Theodoros Stamos, Evidence of Wonder: A survey 1940s-1990s, ACA Galleries, New York, NY (solo)
2011
Black Mountain College and its Legacy, Loretta Howard Gallery, New York, NY
2010
A Communion with Nature, Hollis Taggart Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
2008
Theodoros Stamos: Infinity and Beyond, Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, NY (solo)
Gallery Selections Summer 2008, Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, NY
2007
A Culture in the Making, Hackett Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Pathways and Parallels: Roads to Abstract Expressionism, Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, NY
2006
Picasso to Pop: Aspects of Modern Art, The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
The Alpha Bank Collection: Greek Art since 1920, MMCA Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessalonica, Greece
2005
Theodoros Stamos: An Exhibition of One of the "Irascibles," Crane Kalman Gallery, London, UK (solo)
Theodore Stamos: Six Select Paintings, Kouros Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
2004
Theodore Stamos : A Selection of Paintings, Kouros Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
2003
Theodoros Stamos, Florian Sundheimer Galerie, Munich, Germany (solo)
2002
British and American Art, Crane Kalman Gallery, London, UK
Perspectives II: Five Decades of Seminal Work, Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
2001
British, European and American Art, Crane Kalman Gallery, London, UK
2000
Abstract Notions: Selections from the Permanent Collection, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Fine Arts Center, Amherst, MA
Modern Odysseys, Greek-American Artists of the 20th Century, Greek State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessalonica, Greece
Expresionismo Abstracto, Fundación Juan March, Madrid, Spain (solo)
1999
Color & Field, American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich, Germany
Modern Odysseys: Greek American Artists of the 20th Century, Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY
1998
Kouros Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1997
Theodoros Stamos 1922-1997-A Retrospective, The National Gallery, Athens, Greece; Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens, Greece (solo)
1996
Paper Work, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
Hiro Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (solo) Arranged by P.T. Efstathiou.
1992
Black Mountain College/Scratching the Surface, Station Gallery, Katonah, NY
Theodoros Stamos 1947-1963, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1990
Recent Work, Louis Newman Galleries, Beverly Hills, CA
1989
Stamos, Dorsky Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1988
20th Anniversary Show, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
1987
Städisches Museum Leverkusen, Germany
1986–1987
Abstraction By American Masters Over 50, R.H. Love Modern, Chicago, IL
1986
Stamos, Kouros Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1985
Ericson Gallery New York, NY (solo)
Kouros Gallery, New York, NY
Galerie Würthle, Vienna, Austria
Harcourts Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
Turske and Turske, Zurich, Switzerland
1982
A Curator's Choice 1942-1963, Rosa Esman Gallery, New York, NY
Abstract Expressionism Lives, Stamford Museum, Stamford, CT
Theodoros Stamos, Karen and Jean Bernier Gallery, Athens, Greece (solo)
1980
Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, NY (solo)
Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1977
Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1973
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE (solo)
1972
Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1961–1970
André Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1969
Waddington Fine Arts Gallery, Montreal, Canada (solo)
1967
Spingold Theater Arts Center Gallery, Waltham, MA (solo)
1961
Galleria del Naviglio, Milan, Italy (solo)
1960
André Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Gimpel Fils Gallery, London, UK (solo)
1958
Retrospective, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (solo)
1956
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY(solo)
1954
Philips Memorial Gallery, Washington, D.C (solo)
1953
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1951
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1950
Philips Memorial Gallery, Washington, D.C (solo)
1949
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1948
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1947
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1945
Mortimer Brandt Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1943
Wakefield Gallery, New York, NY (solo)