KNUD MERRILD (1894-1954)

A pioneer of west coast modernism, Merrild was born in Odum, Denmark on May 10, 1894. From 1912-16 Merrild studied in Copenhagen at the Royal Academy of Fine Art and the Arts & Crafts School. He immigrated to NYC in 1921. The winter of 1922-23 was spent on a remote ranch near Taos, NM with writer D. H. Lawrence. While there, he had his first solo show at the Santa Fe Museum of Art.

Merrild arrived in Los Angeles in May 1923. Southern California was not an art center at this time and was certainly not open to modernist ideas. While primarily supporting himself as a house painter, Merrild developed relationships with the vanguard in the area, including Man Ray, Henry Miller and Walter and Louise Arensberg. During the 1920s Merrild explored a cubist style, but by the mid 30s the influence of the Dadaists and Surrealists became evident. In the early 40s he developed a technique he called flux painting which involved dripping or pouring paint onto canvas. This technique was later made famous by Jackson Pollock, who may have been inspired by Merrild's example.

Merrild was highly discriminating and he would destroy works if they did not measure up to his strict standards. For all the years that he made art, his final body of work was not large. Nevertheless this work found its way into the best museum collections in the country, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art in New York, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the San Diego Museum of Art.

Exh: Belmaison Galleries (NYC), 1921; LA Museum of Science, Art & History, 1925; Pasadena Art Inst., 1933; Calif.-Pacific Intl Expo (San Diego), 1935; SFMA, 1935, 1937 (solo); Hollywood Modern Art Gallery, 1935; MOMA, 1936-42; GGIE, 1939; Whitney Museum, 1941; AIC, 1947; Pasadena Museum, 1952 (solo); Long Beach Museum, 1964; LACMA, 1965 (solo). In: San Diego Museum; Oakland Museum; LACMA; SFMA. AAA 1933; WWAA 1936-53; WWC 1942; Sam; SCA; 100 Years of Calif. Sculpture; Art of California, Nov. 1991.

Cubist/Art Deco Composition

Mixed media on paper, 9 x 9", signed. Framed.