Artist Profile
South of the highway in Sagaponack, New York, in a converted barn that Sydney Butchkes calls home, a treasure trove of abstract art awaits the visitor. Entering the large living space, you are immediately taken by the volume of work, its intelligent placement in his studio, gallery and living space, and the relationship that it has to its occupant. The pieces, carefully chosen and displayed, reflect the creativity and expression of a lifetime.
Born in Covington, Kentucky in 1920, Butchkes received his formal training at a time when abstract expressionism was about to pierce the art world. He attended the Cincinnati Art Academy, the Art Students’ League in New York and the New School for Social Research. Interrupting his studies to enlist, he was a member of the Camouflage Corp during WWII, where, while in Italy, his unit’s talents were ingeniously used to construct 3-D topographical elevations from traditional flat maps. Later, they constructed a “dummy” false bridge over the Rhine to draw enemy fire away from the real bridge. Although he did not fully realize it at the time, these experiences percolated, directly influencing the dimensionality of the work he would later create.
Returning to New York after the war, Butchkes was hired by the art department at Columbia Records. Eventually, he began to design jacket covers for its burgeoning music business. He freelanced, too, supplementing his income with the countless book jackets he created. Gradually, as his oeuvre became more defined, he resigned those accounts to concentrate fully on the painted image.
Born in Covington, Kentucky in 1920, Butchkes received his formal training at a time when abstract expressionism was about to pierce the art world. He attended the Cincinnati Art Academy, the Art Students’ League in New York and the New School for Social Research. Interrupting his studies to enlist, he was a member of the Camouflage Corp during WWII, where, while in Italy, his unit’s talents were ingeniously used to construct 3-D topographical elevations from traditional flat maps. Later, they constructed a “dummy” false bridge over the Rhine to draw enemy fire away from the real bridge. Although he did not fully realize it at the time, these experiences percolated, directly influencing the dimensionality of the work he would later create.
Returning to New York after the war, Butchkes was hired by the art department at Columbia Records. Eventually, he began to design jacket covers for its burgeoning music business. He freelanced, too, supplementing his income with the countless book jackets he created. Gradually, as his oeuvre became more defined, he resigned those accounts to concentrate fully on the painted image.
