R. B. Kitaj
|
|
Ronald Brooks Kitaj (born October 29, 1932) is an American-born artist.
He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and studied at the Cooper Union Institute in New York City and, after a short stint in the United States Army, at the Ruskin School of Art (1958-59) and the Royal College of Art (1959-61) in London. He subsequently settled in England, and through the 1960s taught at the Ealing School of Art, the Camberwell School of Art and the Slade School of Art.
Kitaj became a significant contributor to British pop art with his figurative paintings featuring areas of bright colour, economic use of line and overlapping planes which made them resemble collages. Allusions to political history, art, literature and Jewish identity often recur in his work. He also produced a number of screen-prints. His later works have been more personal.
Kitaj was one of several artists to make a post-it note in celebration of 3M's 20th anniversary. When auctioned on the internet in 2000, the charcoal and pastel piece sold for $925, making it the most expensive post-it note in history, a fact recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.