Leon Berkowitz

Berkowitz developed a singular method of applying numerous thin glazes of oil color which allowed him to achieve a subtle visual luminosity that defines his work. Berkowitz's paintings investigate ways color and light can convey spirit and the passage of time. For Berkowitz, color was a vehicle for light, and light was a vehicle for the spirit. 

Berkowitz's work has maintained its significance in the development of contemporary American art. Throughout his career, Berkowitz has received numerous awards and honors including a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities.

Berkowitz's work is represented in major collections including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection, the Museum of Modern Art, the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, the Wadsworth Atheneum, the High Museum and the James A. Michener collection.

I want to reinvent color—color as visual and emotional experience rather than as matter. Paint is only a medium, absorbing light that is reflected back to the eye. The illusion called art is only a collection of light rays, held in a certain way by sight and slowly released back to the light as the mind turns away. —Leon Berkowitz