Survey of Local Artist's 60-Year Career on View in UB's Anderson Gallery

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- "Catherine Catanzaro Koenig: Six Decades of Drawing and Painting," an exhibit representing the 60-year career of the artist, will open in the University at Buffalo's Anderson Gallery with a reception from 6-8:30 p.m. on May 30, and will remain on view through Oct. 12.

Koenig, a life long resident of Buffalo, is best known for her luminous still-life paintings of objects such as a dark bowler hat and eggshells. Including more than 65 works of art and several objects borrowed from her studio, "Catherine Catanzaro Koenig: Six Decades of Drawing and Painting" illustrates the transitions in Koenig's career and provides a fresh look at her ongoing experimentation with ordinary objects.

Born in Buffalo in 1921, Koenig graduated from the Albright Art School of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy in 1942. She, along with her late husband James, raised three children while she simultaneously pursued a career in art. Koenig taught at The Art Institute of Buffalo from 1946 to 1956, Niagara Community College from 1977 to 1979 and UB's Millard Fillmore College from 1961 to 1979. Koenig has shown her work worldwide and received many national awards in drawing and painting including, most recently, a substantial grant from The Pollock Krasner Foundation, Inc. The grant, designed to support professional artists of merit, covers living and working expenses for one year. Koenig's works are included in numerous public and private collections, among them the Albright-Knox Art Gallery; UB Anderson Gallery; Burchfield-Penney Art Center; Butler Institute of American Art; The Library of Congress; Oklahoma Art Center; and Ball State University Art Center.

A full-color publication with a foreword by the artist's daughter, Becky Koenig, and an essay by the exhibition's curator, Kristin E. M. Riemer, will accompany the exhibition. David K. Anderson, UB Anderson Gallery benefactor and a collector of Koenig's work, provided support to the publication and is a lender to the exhibition.

Koenig's work also will be on view from July 12 to Sept. 28 in a concurrent exhibition, "Realism's Allure: Walter R. Garver, Donald R. Haug and Catherine Catanzaro Koenig," in the Burchfield-Penney Art Center in Rockwell Hall at Buffalo State College, 1300 Elmwood Avenue.

UB Anderson Gallery is located on Martha Jackson Place off Englewood Avenue. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. The gallery will be closed on July 4. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Call 829-3754 for more information.