HAROLD GARDE (1923 – 2022)
FORM / FIGURE / ABSTRACTION
The work of American painter Harold Garde (1923-2022) is undergoing renewed interest from scholars and collectors, following a successful showing at Scope Miami Beach in 2023 and an important two-part retrospective at the University of Wyoming Art Museum in Laramie, which concluded in February 2025. Several works from the University of Wyoming Art Museum retrospective are included in this exhibition.
A native of New York, Garde attended the University of Wyoming on the G.I. Bill in the late 1940s, studying art with geometric abstractionist Ilya Bolotowsky, abstract expressionist George McNeil, and surrealist Leon Kelly. Returning to New York in 1949, he gained prominence for his vibrant palette and the psychological content of his paintings, and for developing the influential Strappo printing technique, a dry acrylic transfer process that fuses elements of painting and printmaking.
A prolific, restlessly innovative artist, Garde forged an idiosyncratic synthesis of figuration and abstraction, becoming well known for plumbing the emotional depths of human nature. Garde said of his work, “I am interested in what paint can do, making marks that expressively respond to my thoughts and actions.”
The 38 works included in FORM / FIGURE / ABSTRACTION feature a variety of subjects and mediums. Spanning 50 years of Garde’s career, these works represent the cornerstones of his body of work, from abstract expressionism, to human figures and portraits, to still lifes of ordinary objects like chairs, vases, and kimonos. Rendered in vivid color with varying degrees of abstraction, the works are unified in highlighting the psychological depth of Garde’s work and eliciting an emotional response from the viewer.
His works are in many private and public collections, including the Bibliotèque Nationale de France, the Metropolitan Museum of Art – Watson Library (NY), the National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), the Portland Museum of Art (ME), the Farnsworth Museum (ME), the Zillman Museum (ME), the Museum of Art—DeLand (FL), the University of Wyoming Art Museum, and others.
STRAPPO TECHNIQUE
Strappo, Italian for “rip” or “tear”, refers to an art restoration technique where a fresco is detached from its original wall and transferred to a new surface.
Harold Garde invented an image-printing process he called Strappo, in which multiple layers of acrylic paint are painted in reverse on glass, lifted off, and applied to either canvas or paper. On the finished print the top layer of paint is actually the first layer applied—the opposite of a painting—which highlights Garde’s careful consideration of each stroke of color.
Visit our gallery to view the full selling exhibition!
130 E Broadway, Jackson, WY 83001