Monmouth University Galleries opens an art exhibition that features the important series of drawings: The Frances Cycle, created by the American artist, humanist, and teacher Jacob Landau.
Reception: Monday, April 1, 2024, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Born in Philadelphia in 1917, Landau launched his career as an illustrator, winning national prizes at age 16 and a scholarship to the Philadelphia College of Art. He went on to have over sixty one-person shows, featuring a wide range of drawings and paintings. The recipient of numerous awards, including Guggenheim and National Arts Council grants, many of his works are featured in permanent collections, such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A master teacher, he retired as professor emeritus at New York’s Pratt Institute. In 1996, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by Monmouth University.
The exhibition features the important series of drawings, The Frances Cycle, in dedication to his wife that died from Alzheimer’s disease. In 1999, Landau finished a limited-edition book, The Frances Cycle: Some Motions of the Earth. He used his own art and the poetry of, former President of the Jacob Landau Institute, and writer/poet, David Herrstrom, to give voice to the words his wife spoke as she dealt with the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. The completes series (14), and books, are all from Monmouth University’s extensive collection of Jacob Landau’s work, comprising over 300 prints, drawings, and paintings. The collection was gifted to Monmouth University in 2008 by the Jacob Landau Institute of Roosevelt, NJ.
