Michael Goldberg

MICHAEL GOLDBERG (New York, 1924–2007).
Untitled.
Glasfad, or a glass centerpiece, altered and hand-painted.
One-of-a-kind piece.
Provenance: Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg, Denmark.
Measurements: 117 cm in diameter.

This large-scale work belongs to a lesser-known yet well-documented and highly valued facet of Michael Goldberg’s oeuvre: his compositions on glass. Galerie Moderne Silkeborg, the work’s source, includes within the artist’s body of work various glasfad—glass centers or platters—in different formats. This documentation allows us to understand glass not as a circumstantial medium, but as one of the realms in which Goldberg extended his abstract exploration beyond canvas and paper.

The transparency of the medium is essential to the work’s conception. Goldberg arranges angular and fragmentary forms in intense shades of yellow, black, red, and earthy tones across the surface, accompanied by a network of light lines that traverse and connect the various chromatic centers. Large areas remain virtually free of color, so that the light and transparency of the glass actively influence perception. The traditional pictorial surface is thus transformed into an object in which color, material, and real space interact simultaneously.

The structure retains features closely linked to his pictorial language: superimposition, hallmarks of contrast, a shift in focal points, and a constant tension between gesture and construction. Some patches retain irregular edges and a pronounced materiality, while others take on the visual precision of cut-out fragments. This collage-like approach is particularly relevant to Goldberg, whose body of work incorporated a wide variety of techniques throughout his career. The Smithsonian specifically highlights his ongoing experimentation with materials and media, while the National Gallery of Art holds, alongside paintings and prints, collages, mixed media works, and even a paper relief—testimony to a practice that was never limited to oil on canvas.

The circular format also alters the usual dynamics of Goldberg’s painting. With the rectangular structure of the canvas gone, the forms seem to expand and shift around the transparent field, accentuating a sense of movement that connects with the energy of Abstract Expressionism without literally replicating the techniques of Action Painting. In this sense, the glass preserves the immediacy of the manual intervention and, at the same time, endows the composition with a particularly pronounced object-like quality.

Michael Goldberg was a leading figure of the second generation of American Abstract Expressionism. Trained at the Art Students League and under Hans Hofmann, he participated in the historic Ninth Street Exhibition of 1951 and became part of the Eighth Street Club circle, associating with artists such as Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, and Joan Mitchell. His interest in material experimentation extended to collage, printmaking, relief, and other media—an aspect particularly significant in relation to this piece. He participated in numerous exhibitions at the Whitney Museum, and his work is included in major international collections, including those of MoMA, the Whitney Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.