Ernst Benkert (1928 - 2010 ), "Warsaw 5", 1965

Origins
D. Wigmore Fine Art Inc.
institutional collection, Poland
Desa Unicum, 2014

Exhibited
Anonima Group, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 1-28.02.1966
"Black/White and Gray Paintings," Foksal Gallery, Warsaw, July-September 1966
"Black/White and Gray Paintings 24" Square", Anonima Gallery, New York, 1966.

Literature
Black/White and Gray Paintings, exhibition catalog, Foksal Gallery, Warsaw, 1966, cat. no. 6, p. 17 (list of works)

Biography
His first interest in art was sparked by comic books ("Dick Tracy", "Little Orphan Annie"). He took drawing lessons at the Art Institute of Chicago. He then entered Harvard, from which he graduated in 1953. He then embarked on a tour of Europe studying art with Oskar Kokoschka in Salzburg and at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. In 1959, after moving to New York, he begins working with Hewitt and Mieczkowski as the Anonima Group. The group focuses on the study of the psychology of perception in its relationship to art. From 1961 he lives in Paris where he becomes acquainted with Henryk Stażewski, among others. In the 1960s, Benkert shows her work with the Anonima Group in exhibitions such as "The Responsive Eye" at MoMA in New York, in a group show at Denise René Gallery in Paris and at Martha Jackson Gallery in New York. In 1966, together with the Anonima Group, he exhibits his works at the Foksal Gallery in Warsaw ("Black, White and Gray Paintings")and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. In the same year he begins teaching at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn where he teaches for the next 25 years. The artist has received many grants and fellowships including a New Rork State Creative Artist Public Service award, a National Foundation for the Arts grant and a Pollock-Krasner grant. His works are in collections including: Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo; Robert Hull Fleming Museum in Burlington; Grey Art Gallery, New York University or Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel.