biographie de Bradley Walker TOMLIN (1899-1953)

Birth place: Syracuse, NY

Addresses: NYC; Woodstock, NY

Profession: Painter

Studied: Syracuse Univ., 1921; Jeannette Scott; Acad. Colarossi; Grande Chaumière, 1923-24.

Exhibited: AIC; Montross Gal., 1924 (solo), 1927 (solo); WMAA, 1925-52; PAFA Ann., 1929-37, 1945-49; Corcoran Gal biennials, 1932-53 (7 times); Rehn Gal., 1931 (solo), 1942; Betty Parsons Gal., 1950; 15 Americans," MoMA, 1952; Hofstra Univ., 1975 (retrospective). Other awards: Hiram Gee Fellowship, Syracuse Univ."

Member: Fed. Mod. P.&S.; Woodstock AA

Work: MMA; WMAA; BM; PAFA; PMG; AGAA; Cranbrook Acad. Art; Univ. Illinois; Univ. Iowa; MoMA; Newark Mus.; BMA; Woodstock AA

Comments: A lyric Abstract Expressionist. Tomlin turned to abstraction in the late 1930s, employing a cubist spatial structure with surrealist motifs. In 1947/48 he began painting totally abstract works, mostly in black and white, in which thick calligraphic lines danced across the canvas. Over the next five years, Tomlin favored more geometric forms, such as rectangles, dashes, dots, crosses, and t-shapes, working them into shifting, rhythmic patterns across the entire painting surface. He enjoyed a long friendship with Frank London (see entry). Positions: commercial illus., CondÈ Nast publications, 1922-29.

Sources: WW53; WW47; Woodstock's Art Heritage, 136-37; Baigell, Dictionary; Jeanne Chenault, Bradley Walker Tomlin (exh. cat., Hofstra Univ., 1975); Falk, Exh. Record Series.