Norman Kleeblatt

Norman Kleeblatt received his A.B. in Art History from Rutgers University in 1971, and was awarded an M.A. and Diploma in Conservation in 1975 from the New York University Institute of Fine Arts.

In 1987, Kleeblatt curated "The Dreyfus Affair: Art, Truth and Justice" (1987), which explored the relationship between art and politics by examining visual responses to the Dreyfus Affair in France. For this exhibition, Kleeblatt received the Présidence d'honneur, Comité scientifique, Société internationale d'histoire. The accompanying catalogue received an Honorable Mention from Henry Allen Moe Prize for catalogues of distinction in the arts.

"Painting a Place in America: Jewish Artists in New York, 1900–1945" (1991, co-curator) focused on the choice faced by first generation Jewish-American artists to assimilate into the American cultural mainstream or to preserve their Jewish identities. The corresponding catalogue won the Henry Allen Moe Prize (second place) for catalogues of distinction in the arts and as co-recipient also won the National Jewish Book Award in the Visual Arts Category.[3]

Kleeblatt’s 1996 exhibition "Too Jewish? Challenging Traditional Identities” confronted issues surrounding stereotypes, questions of assimilation, and the issue of Jewish identity in the multicultural art world.[4]

In 1998, Kleeblatt co-curated with Kenneth Silver "An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaïm Soutine"—the first major presentation of Chaïm Soutine's work in New York in nearly 50years. The exhibit focused on Soutine’s reception by his patrons, supporters, and critics. Kleeblatt received Second Place for the Best Exhibition at a New York City Museum from the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) and the catalogue was a finalist for the Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Award, College Art Association of America.

"John Singer Sargent: Portraits of the Wertheimer Family" (2000) reunited for the first time in more than sixty years the twelve formal portraits of the Wertheimer family painted by John Singer Sargent. This exhibition told the story of a friendship between artist and patron and offered a unique glimpse into the world of a privileged family of English Jews.[5]

In 2001 the exhibit "Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art" contextualized controversial works by contemporary artists who employed images of Nazi villains rather than Holocaust victims. In 2008 “Theaters of Memory: Art and the Holocaust” presented eight artists’ works that related history surrounding World War II, the atrocities of genocide and mass destruction, and their attendant moral devastation.

"Action/Abstraction: Pollock, De Kooning, and American Art, 1940-1976" (2008–2009) reinterpreted Abstract Expressionism from the perspectives of influential, rival art critics Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg. Kleeblatt won the Best Thematic Museum Show in New York City in 2008 from The International Art Critics Association, and the Outstanding Exhibition award from the Association of Art Museum Curators. The catalogue received a Banister Fletcher Award honorable mention[6] and a National Jewish Book Award in the Visual Arts category.[7]

“Mel Bochner: Strong Language” (2014) explored Mel Bochner's career-long fascination with the cerebral and visual associations of words. This exhibition was praised by the New York Times as an “elegantly produced exhibition” of a major New York artist.[8] Apollo Magazine called it “...a brilliantly curated show [in which] Bochner reminds us that painting is not yet dead...”[9] Yale University Press published the corresponding catalogue with essays by Kleeblatt and Bochner.[10]

In 2015, Kleeblatt co-curated “From the Margins: Lee Krasner | Norman Lewis, 1945-1952” with Stephen Brown. This exhibition offered a parallel view of Lee Krasner and Norman Lewis, two key Abstract Expressionists who were often overlooked by critics in their time. Karen Rosenberg of the New York Times called it “...a nuanced, sensitive and profound exhibition” and Robert Pincus-Witten stated in Artforum, “This richly suggestive exhibition... What a delight!”[11] The exhibit has been awarded “Best Thematic Museum Show in New York of 2014” by the US section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).[12]

Kleeblatt curated "John Singer Sargent’s Mrs. Carl Meyer and Her Children" with curatorial assistant Lucy Partman in 2016. Focused on Sargent’s 1896 painting Mrs. Carl Meyer and her Children, the show was called an “engrossing and intimate exhibition”[13] by the New York Times.

"Charlemagne Palestine’s Bear Mitzvah in Meshugahland" (2017)[14] was a site-specific installation of hundreds of teddy bears and plush toys related to Charlemagne Palestine's Jewish roots in Brooklyn.