Leonard Tourné Gallery is pleased to present "Allegra," an exhibition of new works on paper by German-born artist Sonja Eisenberg. The exhibition opens May 1 and will run through May 27, 2014.

In the words of Olivier Bernier of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "That her technique is dazzling goes without saying: these transparent mists, these vaporous distances, these infinitely subtle shades which appear in her work seem as if nature itself had made them; but then, great art always seems inevitable. We are offered a series of voluptuous pleasures as we look at the wealth of details; and that is as it should be. Other artists might think that, alone, was a sufficient achievement. Eisenberg knows better: even as her work seduces the eye, it speaks to the soul; and that is why it will remain after so much else is forgotten."

Perhaps best known for her intimate watercolors and compelling large-scale oil works, Eisenberg's current exhibition highlights the depth of the artist's skill, presenting two new series of collage and India ink works on paper.

Born in Berlin in 1926, Eisenberg lives and works in New York. Her work is represented in the Smithsonian Institute (Washington, DC), the Jewish Museum of Art (New York, NY), the official collection of the United Nations (New York, NY), the Palm Springs Art Museum (Palm Springs, CA) and dozens of public and private collections. Her works have been exhibited widely across the United States and in France, Israel, Japan, Amsterdam, Austria, England, Switzerland and her native Germany.

For more information, please contact Leonard Tourné Gallery at (212) 219-2656 or info@leonard-tourne.com.

Selected Press: Choosing Brightness Over Despair: Sonja Eisenberg featured in The Wall Street Journal

SONJA EISENBERG RECEPTION AND BENEFIT AT LEONARD TOURNÉ GALLERY

Please join us on Saturday, December 8th from 5-8PM for a reception for painter and Holocaust survivor Sonja Eisenberg to benefit the American Jewish World Service (AJWS). AJWS supports grassroots organizations in Africa, Asia, and the Americas that are working to create a more just and equitable world where poverty, discrimination and violence no longer exist and where individuals are free to flourish and live their lives with dignity. 

Originally from Berlin, Sonja Eisenberg fled Nazi Germany at the age of eleven and came with her parents and brother to New York, where she still resides. Her work has been exhibited widely across the United States and in France, Israel, Japan, Amsterdam, Austria, England, Switzerland and her native Germany. In addition to her paintings, she has designed numerous posters, magazine covers, and two cachets for the World Federation of United Nations Associations. 

Olivier Bernier, author and lecturer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, once said of Eisenberg:

That her technique is dazzling goes without saying: these transparent mists, these vaporous distances, these infinitely subtle shades which appear in her work seem as if nature itself had made them; but then, great art always seems inevitable. We are offered a series of voluptuous pleasures as we look at the wealth of details; and that is as it should be. Other artists might think that, alone, was a sufficient achievement. Eisenberg knows better: even as her work seduces the eye, it speaks to the soul; and that is why it will remain after so much else is forgotten.

Painting for Eisenberg is about transformation of the unseen, a means of turning lightness into strength and grief into hope.

As a young adult, Eisenberg was stricken by an illness that kept her bedridden for years. Her first of four children, Ronald, was diagnosed with leukemia and died at the age of 12.

Eisenberg began painting several years later when her younger son brought a box of paints to her bedside and asked for a painting for his 10th birthday. She recalled a request made by her first son on what would be the day before his death. "Promise me," he had said, "that you will share with everyone what you have taught me. That way, some day soon, there will be no more war."

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Eisenberg's paintings on December 8th will be donated to AJWS, whose representatives will be on hand to accept donations and discuss the organization. We hope you can join us in celebrating the work of Sonja Eisenberg and in supporting AJWS in making a significant and sustainable difference in the lives of tens of thousands of people throughout the world every day.

To RSVP, please call (212)219-2656 or email info@leonard-tourne.com.

We look forward to seeing you,

Leonard Tourné Gallery
463 Broome Street
(between Greene and Mercer streets)
New York, NY 10013
(212)219-2656
www.leonard-tourne.com

SONJA EISENBERG'S "AUTUMN" OPENS OCTOBER 5 AT LEONARD TOURNÉ GALLERY

Leonard Tourné Gallery and Spoon present Autumn, the second in a two part exhibition of the work of painter and Holocaust survivor Sonja Eisenberg. Trained in music and dance at the Juilliard School of Performing Arts, Sonja Eisenberg is a true virtuoso; translating the unparalleled depth of her personal experience into the movement, space, and color of seductively intimate watercolors, delicate yet commanding pastel compositions, and compelling large scale oil works, Eisenberg reminds the viewer of the dynamics of the sublime, and even what is to paint.

Within her gesture there is no falsity; Eisenberg calls herself up to the vocation of painting with the sincerity only an autodidact can know. Unsullied by the artificial posturing of official art discourse, the artist unsurprisingly claims the thought of Lao Tzu in a Taoist philosophy of simplicity, and the self-evident consistency of the natural world as inspiration for her work. Yet, there is nothing primitive here; displaying a sophisticated and instinctual comprehension of composition, each tableau is no less than a triumph, serene yet unbound, passion with consilience.

Born in Berlin in 1926, Sonja Eisenberg lives and works in New York. Eisenberg’s work is represented in the Smithsonian Institute (Washington, D.C.), the Jewish Museum of Art (New York), the official collection of the United Nations (New York), and dozens of additional public and private collections. Her works have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including notable exhibitions in London, Tel Aviv, France, and her native Germany.

The exhibition will be on view at Leonard Tourné Gallery, located at 463 Broome Street (between Greene and Mercer streets) in New York City, from October 5-November 5, 2012. It was curated in partnership with Brooke Lynn McGowan.

GROUP SHOW AT LEONARD TOURNÉ GALLERY

Leonard Tourné Gallery and Spoon invite you to a group show featuring work by their best-selling artists, Sonja Eisenberg, Gonzalo Fuenmayor, Max Glaser, and William Hinson. The show will be up at our SoHo location, at 463 Broome Street (between Greene and Mercer), through September 1.


About the artists

Sonja Eisenberg's paintings represent the transformation of the unseen, of turning grief or lightness into hope and strength. Eisenberg, originally from Berlin, fled Nazi Germany at the age of eleven and came with her parents and brother to New York, where she still resides. She began her painting career after the death of her first son and has shown her work across the United States and in France, Israel, Japan, Amsterdam, Austria, England, Switzerland and her native Germany.

New York-based Max Glaser works with the concept of containment. His work, which often involves crushing objects--ranging from fruit to once-live animals--between panes of bullet-proof plexiglass, investigates the compression of reality and consciousness into two-dimensional images of symbol and memory. His work has been shown at Cuchifritos Gallery, The ArtBridge Drawing Room, and the Affordable Art Fair 2011, all in New York City.

William Hinson, who works out of his studio in Memphis, Tennessee, explores the interpretation of surfaces, from industrial sites to architectural remnants, which to him reveals a testament to time and endurance. His subjects, while no longer functioning, continue to engage the viewer as they are wrapped in history and narrative. His process is also about surfaces, and involves layering, scraping to reveal, painting over and obscuring hard edges. His work has been shown in New York, Washington, DC, and various galleries in the South.

Colombian-born Gonzalo Fuenmayor's work looks at ornamentation and its role in contemporary culture, in particular its relationship to tragedy. Victorian style elements, such as chandeliers and ornate mirrors, are a recurring theme and are juxtaposed with flaring bunches of bananas, alluding to a decadent and often violent colonial past. Fuenmayor has exhibited in solo and group shows in the United States, South America and Europe.