CHAPIN, DAVID (American, b.1919)

Born in 1919, Chapin trained as a painter at Hans Hofmann’s art school in New York. Here, Hofmann (American, born Germany, 1880-1966) taught Chapin his famous ‘push pull’ theory, in which the plasticity of three-dimensionality is translated to two-dimensionality. Shapes, colors, lines, calligraphic squiggles, and use of space always echo the reality found in nature, but in structure rather than in appearance. In his search for the real (as he titled his book, “The Search for the Real and Other Essays” [1948]) Hofmann produced a new type of landscape, one that is composed, not of trees and land, but of the tension between its space, form, color and planes.
Early in his career, Chapin had one-man exhibitions in Europe and in the States including:
-        1953, Galleria San Marco, Rome, 21-30 November 1953, fold out sheet catalogue available
-         1960, David Herbert Gallery, New York, April 25-May 21, 1960, catalogue available


In London, Chapin was represented by the legendary Drian Gallery as well as by Dennis Bowen’s avant-garde New Vision Centre. ( group show: American Painters in Britain: David Chapin, Stephen Rich and Harry Colman, 17 June - 5 July 1958)