Isaac Witkin - Later Years

Later Years

Witkin subsequently taught at the Parsons School of Design, New York, New York, and the Philadelphia College of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Burlington County Community College, Pemberton, New Jersey. He also was honored as a Member of the National Academy, New York, NY and as a Member, Royal Society of British Sculptors. During his career Witkin also received the following awards: State of New Jersey Art Achievement Award, Burlington County College Foundation; Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Grant; New Jersey State Council on the Arts Grant and in 1981 a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Through his work Witkin became an acquaintance of fellow sculptor and patron of the arts J. Seward Johnson, Jr., of the Johnson and Johnsons. This friendship allowed Witkin to persuade Johnson to buy and transform the abandoned New Jersey Fairgrounds into what became the Grounds for Sculpture Park, a 35-acre (140,000 m2) open air display of sculptures in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. Several of Witkin’s works are among the Grounds permanent collections. Witkins work is also included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC, the Centre for Modern Art, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal; Fine Arts Museum, University of Sydney, Australia; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; Laumier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, MO; Tate Gallery, London; and The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. His work is also displayed on his family’s website, www.isaacwitkin.com.

Isaac Witkin died 23 April 2006. He is survived by his two daughters, his sizeable body of work, and the artists it has inspired.