John Button (artist)


John Button was an American artist, well known for his city-scapes. Educated at the University of California, Berkeley then moved to New York City in the early 1950s. He became friends with Fairfield Porter and Frank O'Hara and assumed his part in the New York School of Painters and Poets.
Amidst the frenzy of Abstract Expressionism, Button remained true to his interest in realism, and is now most commonly associated with such New York School artists as Fairfield Porter, Jane Freilicher, and Alex Katz. Button was a fine draftsman and drew from life models throughout his career. However, little known are his sketches of male nudes – studio models from the School of Visual Arts, where Button taught, as well as personal acquaintances.
Button died of a heart attack in New York City on 12 December 1982.

Exhibitions

, New York City;
Museum of Modern Art, New York City;
Columbia University, New York City;
Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York City;
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York;
Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, New York;
Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York;
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC;
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco;
Oakland Museum, Oakland, California;
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut;
Colby College, Colby, Maine;
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine;
Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire;
Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey;
Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina;
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, Utah;
Utah State University, Logan, Utah;
Rahr-West Art Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin;
Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, Indiana;
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida;
Jersey City Museum, New Jersey;
Long Island Museum, Stony Brook, New York;
New York Public Library, New York City;
Museum of the City of New York, New York City;
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island;
St. Lawrence University, New York;
University of Rochester, New York