NORMA ISAACS
(1901-1998)
NEW YORK
​
STUDIED
    Sol Wilson *1
    Morris Davidson, Provincetown Art School *2
    Victor D'Amico, Museum of Modern Art, N.Y.C. and Art Barge Amagansett *3
    Art Students League of New York *4
    Ralph Mayer, New School for Art and History *5
 
​
MEMBERSHIPS
    National Council of Jewish Women (1st painting group experienced) *6
    Provincetown Art Association, 1952-55
    American Society of Contemporary Artists [ASCA]
    Metropolitan Painters and Sculptures
    National Association of Women Artists 
    National Council of Jewish Women
    Village Art Center
    Artists Equity Association, 1971
    Brooklyn society of Artists, 1963
 
​
EXHIBITIONS AND SHOWS
    Kew Forest Art Association, 1952
    Provincetown Art Association, 1952 and 1955
    Kew Forest Art Association, Spring and Fall Exhibition, 1953 *
    Village Art Center, Nine Prize Winners 52/53 Open Oil Show, 1953 *
    Village Art Center, Midseason Oil Exhibition, 1954
    Village Art Center, Eleven Year Retrospective Exhibition of Prize Winners, Whitney Museum of Art, 1954 *
    Village Art Center, Mid Season Oil Exhibition, 1956 *
    Contemporary Arts, Pre-season Exhibition, 1956 and 1957
    Whitney Museum of Art, 1958
    Art U.S.A. 1958, Group Show, New York Colosseum
    Village Art Center Gallery 1960/61 "One-Man Show"
        (Award received from Victor D'Amico, Director of Education Department, Museum of Modern Art), 1961 *
    Brooklyn Society of Artists, 1962 *
    ASCA 47th Annual Exhibition, 1964 *
    ASCA 48th Annual Exhibition, Lever House, 1965
    ASCA 49th Annual Exhibition, 1966 *
    New York Hilton, 1967
    ASCA 50th Annual Exhibition, Lever House, 1967
    ASCA 51st Annual Exhibition, 1968 *
    ASCA 52nd Annual Exhibition, First National Citibank, 1969
    ASCA 53rd Annual Exhibition, Union Carbide, 1970 *
    ASCA 54th Annual Exhibition National Arts Club, Gramercy Park, 1971
    Riverside Museum
    ASCA 55th Annual Exhibition, Lever House, 1972
    ASCA An Exhibition of Painting, Sculptures, and Graphics, Franklin National Bank, 1973
    National Association of Women Artists, 85th Annual Exhibition, National Academy Galleries, 1973 *
    ASCA 56th Annual Exhibition, Union Carbide, 1974
    ASCA National Art Museum of Sports, Madison Square Garden, 1974
    Metropolitan Painters and Sculptors, 6th Annual Exhibition, Leaver House, 1974
    National Association of Women Artists , Union Carbide 1975
    Metropolitan Painters and Sculptors Exhibition, Rockefeller Plaza, 1975(?)
    ASCA 61st Annual Exhibition National Arts Club, 1979 *
    Metropolitan Paintings and Sculptures 11th Annual Exhibition, 1979
    ASCA 62nd Annual Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, 1980 *
    ASCA 63nd Annual Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, 1981
    ASCA 64th Annual Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, 1982
    ASCA Brotherhood Synagogue, 1982
    National Academy Galleries
    Bertrand Fine Arts Gallery, Topeka, Kansas
    Norma Isaacs at 90 - An Introspective, 112 Greene St, N.Y.C., 1991
​
        * See Awards
​
            
AWARDS
    Kew Forest Art Association Fall Show, Bronze Medal, 1953
    Village Art Center, Nine Prize Winners 1952/53 Open Oil Show, 1953
    Village Art Center, Eleven Year Retrospective Exhibition of Prize Winners. Whitney Museum of Art, 1954
        'Grand Canyon' Oil on Canvas
    Village Art Center, Honorable Mention, 1956
    Village Art Center Gallery 1960/61 "One-Man Show", First Prize Oils
        (Award received from Victor D’Amico, Director of Education Department, Museum of Modern Art)
    Stuart Roosevelt Enterprise Award, Oils, 1962, 'Seascape'
    Brooklyn Society of Artists, Distinctive Merit in Oils, 1962
    American Society of Contemporary Artists 47th Annual  Mixed Media/Watercolor, 1964
    American Society of Contemporary Artists 49th Annual Exhibition, Honorable Mention Watercolor, 1966, 'Fantasia'
    American Society of Contemporary Artists 51st Annual Exhibition, Heydenryk Frame Award, 1968, 'Face in the Window'
    American Society of Contemporary Artists 53rd Annual Union Carbide Award, First Prize Oils, 1970, 'Forms of Nature'
    National Association for Women Artists, Elizabeth Fulda Memorial Award, 1973, 'Natures Garden' (photo!)
    American Society of Contemporary Artists 61st Annual, Oils, 1979
    American Society of Contemporary Artists 62nd Annual Exhibit, Salmagundi Club Award of Merit, Oils, 1980
 
 
 
 
*1
Sol Wilson (1896-1974)
Born in Vilno, Russia (now Poland) Sol Wilson immigrated to America in 1901 and settled in New York City, but made frequent painting trips to Provincetown and Rockport, MA. He taught at the American Artists School and The Art Students League and was also a WPA muralist. Wilson’s work is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum, The Smithsonian, The Phillips Collection, the Whitney Museum and the Library of Congress, among others.
 
*2
Morris Davidson (Rochester 1898 - New York City 1979), Provincetown Art School
Morris Davidson’s career as a painter spanned the decades in which American artists experimented with a wide variety of artistic expression, from social realism to abstraction. Davidson followed these trends in his own work as he studied art in Baltimore, at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, with Painters in Provincetown, MA, and eventually in Paris. In an oral history conducted with Davidson by the Archives of American Art in 1971, the artist described the decisive impact that cubism and other modernist movements had on his thinking and painting. Along with many other mid-century artists, Davidson, in the course of his career, moved away from the depiction of identifiable landscapes or cityscapes toward a greater degree of abstraction. 
 
*3
Victor D’Amico (1904-1987)
Victor and Mabel D’Amico’s most lasting achievement, The Art Barge in Amagansett, was founded in 1960 as a summer outpost of The Museum of Modern Art.  Victor beached a retired World War II Navy barge on the south shore of Napeague Harbor on land that was owned by Mabel. An upper deck was added to the original structure, which was renovated to accommodate studios and workshop space. It is at The Art Barge where Victor and Mabel’s ideas flourish and continue to be utilized in teaching generations of students.
 
*4
The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists.
 
*5
Ralph Mayer (1895-1979)
Mayer taught at Columbia University for 18 years, giving a unique original course on artists painting materials and techniques, upon which courses all over the country were patterned.  He taught lecture courses at the New School for Social Research for five years and at numerous other colleges and art schools, including the Art Students League and Silvermine College of Art. He was a consultant to many artists.
 
*6
The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is the oldest Jewish feminist civil rights organization working for equity and justice for women, children, and families in the United States. Norma was introduced to painting by a friend who was a fellow member of the NCJW.
​
​
​
​
​