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Born in Chicago in 1930, Natkin is thought of more as a New York artist due to the impact he has had on the New York and London art scenes in the 1960s and 1970s. He lived for many years in Connecticut, where he had the space to create very large canvases.
Natkin has been represented by the Harmon-Meek Gallery since 1993 and has had four exhibitions since 1994. Most of the major museums in this country and abroad have his work in their permanent collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Butler Institute of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The Harmon-Meek Gallery arranged for a major retrospective for him at the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio, which published a major book about his life’s work.
Abrams publishers released a major book about his accomplishments and the art critics, Sister Wendy Beckett and Peter Fuller, both championed his work.
In a profile in The New York Times in 1979, Natkin reflected on his life spent in the studio. “It’s full of the voices of my paintings, of all the victories and defeats I’ve known there.”
Natkin’s work consists of a myriad of abstract images and shapes layered dozens of times over the canvas. There is often a screen or mesh-like appearance to the surface of paint, created by his use of cloth and netting. While most of his paintings are at least 3’ x 4’ he had created smaller works as well. His paintings are either acrylic on paper mounted on canvas or acrylic on canvas. Lithographs are also available.
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