Biografie von John KOCH (1909-1978)

Birth place: Toledo, OH

Addresses: NYC/Paris (summer residence and studio)

Profession: Painter, collector, teacher

Studied: mostly self-taught, travel to Great Britain and France

Exhibited: WMAA; AIC; Valentine Gal., NYC, 1935, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1946 (solos); Kraushaar Gal., NYC; Detroit, MI (solo); PAFA Ann., 1939-45, 1952, 1962; Corcoran Gal. biennials, 1941-61 (5 times); Kansas City AI (solo); Carnegie Inst., 1939-46; Suffolk Mus., LI, NY, 1951 (solo); NAD, 1959 (Benjamin Altman Prize), 1962 (Saltus Gold Medal), 1964 ( Benjamin Altman Prize); Virginia Mus. Arts & Sciences, Richmond, 1963 (solo); Mus. of City of NY, 1963 (solo); Speed Mus., Louisville, KY, 1971 (solo).

Member: NIAL; NA; Audubon Artists; Century Assn.; Lotos Club; Royal Soc. Art ( Benjamin Franklin fellow)

Work: MMA; BM; BMFA; ASL; MoMA; CPLH, San Francisco; Newark Mus.; AIC; Springfield Mus. Art; Canajoharie Art Gal.; Butler Inst.; CPLH; TMA; Nelson Gal. Art, Kansas City; Detroit Inst. FA.

Comments: Portrait painter, best known for his academic-realist depictions of figures in interiors. His patrons included the wealthy elite of New York. Koch's own art collection included works by Tintoretto, Rubens, El Greco, Ingres, Gainsborough, Guardi, Steen, Magnasco, Solimena, Vuillard, Marsh, Burchfield. Teaching: ASL, 1944-45.

Sources: WW73; Dorothy Parker, "John Koch and His Glorious People," Esquire (Nov. 19, 1964); Douglas Davis, "Art Doesn't Have to Be New," Nat. Observer, April 22, 1948; Emily Genauer, "Miracles without Trickery," New York Post, March 11, 1972; 300 Years of American Art, 938; Falk, Exh. Record Series.