Menu
  • | All Art
  • | New Arrivals
  • I Lucy Howard Cohen
  • | Gaétan Caron
  • | Kay Metz
  • | Book Your Visit
  • | Artist by Name
  • | Art by Category
    • Abstract
    • Figurative
    • Landscape
    • Still Life
  • | Art by Medium
    • Drawings & Watercolors
    • Limited Edition Prints
    • Mixed Media
    • Paintings
    • Photography
    • Printmaking
    • Sculptures & Objects
  • | Services
    • Rentals
    • Shipping
    • Framing
    • Our Acquisition Process
    • Installation & Design
    • FAQ for Designers
  • Login
Lost Art Salon
0
    •  Wishlist
    • Login
    0

    Your Cart is Empty

    Continue Shopping
      • $0 Subtotal
      • Taxes and shipping calculated at checkout

      Lost Art Salon
      • | All Art
      • | New Arrivals
      • I Lucy Howard Cohen
      • | Gaétan Caron
      • | Kay Metz
      • | Book Your Visit
      • | Artist by Name
      • | Art by Category
        • Abstract
        • Figurative
        • Landscape
        • Still Life
      • | Art by Medium
        • Drawings & Watercolors
        • Limited Edition Prints
        • Mixed Media
        • Paintings
        • Photography
        • Printmaking
        • Sculptures & Objects
      • | Services
        • Rentals
        • Shipping
        • Framing
        • Our Acquisition Process
        • Installation & Design
        • FAQ for Designers
        Bernard Zawisa

        Bernard Zawisa

        Category

        Medium

        Size

        Color

        Price

        Availability

        Framed

        Unframed

        Shipping Options

        Previous Artist

        Bernard Zawisa (1925-2000)

        A Master of Pattern & Color

        • The Collection
        • The Story

        • Entranced by the color of the seasons and the versatility of the newly-developed acrylic paints, Bernard J. Zawisa spent half a century crafting vivid abstract forms with acrylic, ink, and mixed media. He began his art practice after serving in the US Air Corps during WWII, receiving his BA from Wesleyan University and his MFA from the University of Iowa. Following his studies of Art History and English, he joined Southern Connecticut State University as an art professor in 1958 and taught until his retirement in 1994. During his winter and summer breaks, Zawisa created art while traveling internationally, however, the majority of his pieces were created during extensive stays in Los Angeles and weekend trips along Highway 1 along the California coastline. He placed great importance on the intuitive transition between color and form unique to acrylic paint, and avoided figurative content. His work is now represented in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The Salon is proud to host several of his raw and angular early work from the 60’s (Works of Texture, Bridge Series), his highly geometric and organized paintings from the Early-Mid 70’s (Quatrefoil Series, Circle Series, Grid Pattern), and a selection of his late works from the late 70’s to 90’s (Star Series, Galaxy Series). Thank you to Zawisa’s partner, Mr. Wiggen, for taking such good care of this extraordinary collection, and for entrusting us with Bernard’s legacy.

          Artist Statement

          As for my own painting I give primacy to color, that is, color in a context or in a pattern. These are structured in a grid system of repeated shapes. Initially, I predetermine the choice of colors but as the painting progresses, as the shapes are overlapped, as the colors are blended and the work begins to take a life of its own, the initial colors have generally changed. When to my perception the painting has achieved an organic color unity, it is finished. 

          Of direct influence on my work are the colors of the seasons. Summers are spent in California where the light is a strong factor in perceiving color vibrance. The coastal mountains abound with flora or the deepest yellows and reds with rusty siennas and violet purple. The interior landscape presents another combination of golden ochres as found in the seductively soft and flowing hills. In Connecticut the transitory periods of early spring with its fragile color and autumn with its rich spectrum of hues as well as the singular beauty of the grey tones of a winter landscape command interest and attention. 

          My understanding of art involves a duality of activities – perception and conception. The former deals with visual grasping of formal elements in an organic whole; the latter is concerned with the identifying and distilling of concepts and feelings within the form. In reality both activities are inseparable and occur simultaneously; however, to give uniqueness to art, to distinguish it from other forms, I believe, an emphasis or focus should be given to the former activity, to the perception of formal elements.

          Timeline

          • (1925) - Bernard James Zawisa born May 12, Middletown Connecticut
          • (1944-1946) - 2nd Lieutenant, United States Air Force, Navigator
          • (1946-1950) - Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, Bachelor of Art. Etchings, including series based on James Joyce’s “Ulysses” for Honors Program. Abstract, figurative and still life paintings.
          • (1952-1954) - University of Iowa, studio, art history and theory. Master of Fine Arts in painting. Series of etchings, including one based on Jackson Pollock’s Mural; abstract figurative paintings. Work included in exhibition of American Federation of Arts, National Traveling Exhibition.
          • (1956) - Travels to Puerto Rico; meets Ralph E. Wiggen in San Juan. Series of Fortress and El Moro, San Juan, Puerto Rico drawings and paintings. Works included in exhibition of Essex Art Association, Essex, Connecticut; Boston Arts Festival, Boston, Massachusetts; and American Federation of Arts, National Tour Traveling Exhibition
          • (1957-1958) - Teaches Art History, Studio Painting, Drawing and Aesthetics at Wilkes College (now University), Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
          • (1958-1994) - Professor of Art, Southern Connecticut State University. Teaches Design, Drawing and Painting; organizes and teaches courses in color, water-based media in painting and philosophy of Art. 1994 retires as Professor of Art Emeritus
          • (1960-1966) - Paints Series of texture paintings, Zawias’s notes: “imprinted, veils of brush texture, stained, layers of other colors applied with flowing strokes of a wide brush, sponge or cloth”.
          • (1962-2000) - Paints in California during January and June through mid-September. Week-end motor trips to San Diego, La Jolla, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara and Las Vegas. Frequent motor trips on Coastal Highway 1 from Morro Bay to Carmel, Monterey and San Francisco. 
          • (1964) - Continues to work on discs over land/water series, bridge series, squarish forms and veils of texture series. Zawisa’s note: “squeegee, brush, hard edge shaped by newspaper”. Work included in the New England Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, Silverman Guild of Artists, New Canaan.
          • (1966) - Paints hard edge curved linear and striped landscape series; striped lines series; and tension series. Zawisa’s note: “hard edge shaped by tape.” Exhibition of work at Spectrum gallery, New York, New York. Work included in exhibitions of Connecticut Artist Educator Invitational, Widener Gallery, Austin Arts Center, Trinity College, Hartford, and Group Show, New York University, New York, New York.
          • (1970) - Zawisa’s notes: “Series of 50”x50” acrylic on canvas paintings of four intersecting circles in red, violet and blue; circles within squares. Work included in the exhibition of Silvermine Guild of Artists, New Canaan.
          • (1974) - Paints discs/arcs grid pattern series. Draws landscapes. 
          • (1976) - Continues to paint discs and arcs in grid pattern series. Paints first of star theme/field paintings, five pointed stars, stars and rectangle series. Work included in the exhibition of The Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, Connecticut.
          • (1977) - Paints and draws five and six pointed star theme/field, fragmented stars, galaxy and nebulosity series. Work included in exhibition of Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art, Hartford; “ Mainstreams 1977”, Grover Hermann Fine Arts Center, Marietta College, Marietta, Oho, Arts League Southern Connecticut State College, New Haven; and the The Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich.
          • (1983) - Paints newsprint collages; six pointed star field paintings; corrugated cardboard stars; and six pointed astronomical stars. Early November, diagnosis of tumor in cranium in area below right ventricle. 
          • (2000) Accompanies Wiggen daily to his law offices. Draws informal sketches. In late September becomes ill and retires. Expires October 3, 2000, complications from brain tumor.
          • (2001) - September 3-28, 2001, post mortem exhibit, “Selected Paintings”, John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven.
        View All _|_ View Available _|_ View Sold
        <I>Untitled</I> <br>1960 Mixed-Media on Board<br><br>#C4183
        Untitled
        1960 Mixed-Media on Board

        #C4183
        Bernard Zawisa $4,795
        <I>Fortress II</I> <br>1957 Oil<br><br>#C4225
        Fortress II
        1957 Oil

        #C4225
        Bernard Zawisa $2,395
        <I>Untitled (Eye of God Series)</I> <br>1968 Acrylic on Paper<br><br>#C3948
        Untitled (Eye of God Series)
        1968 Acrylic on Paper

        #C3948
        Bernard Zawisa On Hold
        <i>Untitled (Mountainscape Series)</i> <br>1962 Acrylic <br><br>#C3923
        Untitled (Mountainscape Series)
        1962 Acrylic

        #C3923
        Bernard Zawisa $1,695
        Sold
        <i>Disc Series Abstract</i> <br>1976 Colored Pencil <br><br>#C3926
        Disc Series Abstract
        1976 Colored Pencil

        #C3926
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $1,650
        Sold
        <I>Untitled (Skyscape Series)</I> <br>1962 Mixed-Media Painting<br><br>#C3699
        Untitled (Skyscape Series)
        1962 Mixed-Media Painting

        #C3699
        Bernard Zawisa $1,295
        <i>Cost</i><br>1960 Acrylic and Collage<br><br>#C2330
        Cost
        1960 Acrylic and Collage

        #C2330
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $745
        Sold
        <i>Life</i><br>1960 Collage<br><br>#C3576
        Life
        1960 Collage

        #C3576
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $745
        Sold
        <I>The Sirens</i><br>20th Century Etching <br><br>#C3581
        The Sirens
        20th Century Etching

        #C3581
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $950
        Sold
        <i>Odalisque With Mirror</i><br>1949 Etching<br><br>#C3654
        Odalisque With Mirror
        1949 Etching

        #C3654
        Bernard Zawisa $985
        <i>Hamlet</i>1950 Etching<br><br>#C3579
        Hamlet1950 Etching

        #C3579
        Bernard Zawisa On Hold
        <I>Untitled (Skyscape Series)</I> <br>1962 Acrylic & Graphite<br><br>#C3660
        Untitled (Skyscape Series)
        1962 Acrylic & Graphite

        #C3660
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $995
        Sold
        <i>Pinwheel</i><br>1975 Colored Pencil<br><br>#C2345
        Pinwheel
        1975 Colored Pencil

        #C2345
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $795
        Sold
        <i>Kweilin, China</i><br>1985 Acrylic<br><br>#C3559
        Kweilin, China
        1985 Acrylic

        #C3559
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $1,550
        Sold
        Disc & Grid Pattern Series <br>1973 Colored Pencil <br><br>#C3562
        Disc & Grid Pattern Series
        1973 Colored Pencil

        #C3562
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $1,250
        Sold
        <i>Destroyed</i> <br> 1959 Oil <br><br>#C2539
        Destroyed
        1959 Oil

        #C2539
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $2,395
        Sold
        <I>Ceremonial</I> <br>1975 Acrylic<br><br>#C2441
        Ceremonial
        1975 Acrylic

        #C2441
        Bernard Zawisa $5,375
        <I>Tension</I> <br>1966 Acrylic<br><br>#C2442
        Tension
        1966 Acrylic

        #C2442
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $2,950
        Sold
        <I>Tracery</I> <br>1962 Acrylic <br><br>#C2443
        Tracery
        1962 Acrylic

        #C2443
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $3,950
        Sold
        <i>Disc Over Textured Land/Water</i> Series <br>1963 Acrylic on Paper <br><br>#C2413
        Disc Over Textured Land/Water Series
        1963 Acrylic on Paper

        #C2413
        Bernard Zawisa $1,100
        <i>Landscape with Sun Disc</i> Series <br>1991 Acrylic & Pencil on Paper <br><br>#C2399
        Landscape with Sun Disc Series
        1991 Acrylic & Pencil on Paper

        #C2399
        Bernard Zawisa $1,050
        <i>On the Way to Las Vegas</i> <br>1993 Mixed Media Collage <br><br>#C2400
        On the Way to Las Vegas
        1993 Mixed Media Collage

        #C2400
        Bernard Zawisa $1,050
        <i>Works of Texture</i> Series <br>1964 Acrylic on Paper <br><br>#C2395
        Works of Texture Series
        1964 Acrylic on Paper

        #C2395
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $1,100
        Sold
        <i>Works of Texture</i> Series <br>1964 Acrylic on Paper <br><br>#C2405
        Works of Texture Series
        1964 Acrylic on Paper

        #C2405
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $1,075
        Sold
        <i>Works of Texture</i> Series <br>1964 Acrylic on Paper <br><br>#C2409
        Works of Texture Series
        1964 Acrylic on Paper

        #C2409
        Bernard Zawisa $1,075
        <i>Veils Upon Veils</i> <br>1987 Acrylic on Paper <br><br>#C2402
        Veils Upon Veils
        1987 Acrylic on Paper

        #C2402
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $950
        Sold
        <i>Disc Pattern</i><br>1957 Pencil<br><br>#C2348
        Disc Pattern
        1957 Pencil

        #C2348
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $1,075
        Sold
        <i>Squarish</i><br>1960 Pastel<br><br>#C2333
        Squarish
        1960 Pastel

        #C2333
        Bernard Zawisa On Hold
        <i>Disc Grid Pattern</i> <br>1976 Pencil <br><br>#C2344
        Disc Grid Pattern
        1976 Pencil

        #C2344
        Bernard Zawisa $1,190
        <i>Mountainscape with Barren Tree</i><br>1962 Acrylic and Ink<br><br>#C2358
        Mountainscape with Barren Tree
        1962 Acrylic and Ink

        #C2358
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $975
        Sold
        <i>Sports Coupe</i><br>1960 Acrylic and Collage <br><br>#C2334
        Sports Coupe
        1960 Acrylic and Collage

        #C2334
        Bernard Zawisa $565
        <i>Dusk</i><br>1957 Acrylic<br><br>#C2340
        Dusk
        1957 Acrylic

        #C2340
        Bernard Zawisa $1,250
        <i>Abstracted Female Torso</i><br> 1957 Tempera <br><br>#C2356
        Abstracted Female Torso
        1957 Tempera

        #C2356
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $1,050
        Sold
        <i>Still Life With Flowers</i><br>1950's Etching <br><br>#C2336
        Still Life With Flowers
        1950's Etching

        #C2336
        Bernard Zawisa $485
        <i>Owl Image</i><br>1953 Etching <br><br>#C2349
        Owl Image
        1953 Etching

        #C2349
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $1,920
        Sold
        <i>Mountainscape with Yellow Disc</i><br>1962 Acrylic<br><br>#C2352
        Mountainscape with Yellow Disc
        1962 Acrylic

        #C2352
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $1,150
        Sold
        <i>Night</i> or <i>Dawn Gray</i> <br> 1962 Acrylic <br><br>#C2353
        Night or Dawn Gray
        1962 Acrylic

        #C2353
        Bernard Zawisa $1,075
        <i>Figurative Sketch</i><br>1960s Ink<br><br>#C2338
        Figurative Sketch
        1960s Ink

        #C2338
        Bernard Zawisa $450
        Circles & Arches <br> 1975 Acrylic <br><br> #C1845
        Circles & Arches
        1975 Acrylic

        #C1845
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $6,550
        Sold
        <I>Pyramid, Arch & Pinwheel Series</i> <br>1967 Acrylic <br><br>#C1928
        Pyramid, Arch & Pinwheel Series
        1967 Acrylic

        #C1928
        Bernard Zawisa $9,995
        <i>Circles</i> <br>1969 Acrylic <br><br>#C1840
        Circles
        1969 Acrylic

        #C1840
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $6,575
        Sold
        Blue & Orange Abstraction <br>1975 Acrylic <br><br>#C1842
        Blue & Orange Abstraction
        1975 Acrylic

        #C1842
        Bernard Zawisa $6,750
        <i>Energy</i> <br>1991 Acrylic on Paper <br><br>#C1912
        Energy
        1991 Acrylic on Paper

        #C1912
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $2,895
        Sold
        Circles in Abstraction <br>1971 Acrylic <br><br>#C1680
        Circles in Abstraction
        1971 Acrylic

        #C1680
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $7,450
        Sold
        <i>Reflections</i> <br>1976 Acrylic <br><br>#C1858
        Reflections
        1976 Acrylic

        #C1858
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $8,450
        Sold
        Star Series Optical Abstract <br>1977 Acrylic <br><br>#C1856
        Star Series Optical Abstract
        1977 Acrylic

        #C1856
        Bernard Zawisa $6,450
        Disc Optical Art <br>1975 Acrylic <br><br>#C1847
        Disc Optical Art
        1975 Acrylic

        #C1847
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $6,450
        Sold
        <i>Untitled (Grid Pattern Series)</I> <br>1973 Acrylic <br><br>#C1906
        Untitled (Grid Pattern Series)
        1973 Acrylic

        #C1906
        Bernard Zawisa Sold $1,875
        Sold
        1 2 Next

        Information
        • Contact

        • Our Acquisition Process

        • About Us

        • Plan Your Visit

        • Press & Projects

        • Policies

        • Meet the Experts

        • Job Opportunities

        Services
        • Rentals

        • Shipping

        • Framing

        • Installation & Design

        • FAQ for Designers

        • Digital Gift Certificates

        © 2023 Lost Art Salon. Powered by Shopify

        Learn about new collections, special offers and events

        Learn about new collections, special offers and events