ACA Galleries presents “Leon Berkowitz: Cathedrals of Color,” an exhibition highlighting the visionary work of American Color Field painter Leon Berkowitz (1911–1987). Known for his profound exploration of color, light, and spirituality, Berkowitz played a pivotal role in shaping the Washington Color Field School and remains an influential figure in postwar American abstraction.
Born in Philadelphia, Berkowitz spent much of his artistic career in Washington, DC. In addition to his work as a painter, he was an important educator and mentor. As co-founder and director of the Washington Workshop Center, he contributed significantly to the development of a vibrant artistic community in the city. Berkowitz also served for nearly two decades as chairman of the painting department at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, where he influenced generations of emerging artists.
A defining characteristic of Berkowitz’s practice was his meticulous painting technique. Using a mixture composed of roughly 10 percent oil paint and 90 percent turpentine, he applied between 30 and 60 translucent layers of glaze to the canvas. This process produced surfaces that radiate with subtle luminosity, creating paintings that appear almost woven from light itself. The resulting works form delicate fields of color that shift gently with the viewer’s perception.
Unlike many of his contemporaries associated with Abstract Expressionism, whose works emphasized energetic gestures and dramatic brushwork, Berkowitz developed a more contemplative visual language. His abstract compositions are serene, meditative, and immersive, inviting viewers to experience color as a spiritual and perceptual phenomenon.
For Berkowitz, color functioned as a pathway to light, and light as a vehicle for spiritual presence. His paintings explore how subtle variations of color can evoke atmosphere, emotion, and the passage of time. As the artist once reflected: “I want to find the real dimension in which color invokes life.”
Berkowitz achieved a major milestone in 1969 when he held his first solo museum exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The exhibition helped establish his reputation within the broader landscape of American abstract painting.
Throughout his career, Berkowitz received numerous awards and honors, including a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities. Today, his works are held in major public and private collections across the United States. Institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, the Phoenix Art Museum, and the Wadsworth Atheneum continue to preserve and exhibit his work.
By bringing together Berkowitz’s luminous paintings, “Cathedrals of Color” reintroduces audiences to an artist whose exploration of color and light continues to resonate with contemporary painters and viewers interested in the spiritual and perceptual dimensions of abstraction.
