Grete Rikko

Grete Rikko (1908-1998) was a 20th century German-American abstract expressionist, known for her paintings and collages.

Early life and European career

Rikko was born on April 13, 1908 in Essen, Germany. She studied art at the Volkswang Schule in Essen, before moving to Paris in 1928 to study at the Academie Ranson. In Paris she studied under famed abstractionist Roger Bissiere and participated in group exhibitions at the Salon d'Autumne, Gallerie Marguerite-Henry, Galerie Bonaparte, and the Jeune Europe. Rikko's first solo exhibitions were at the Galerie Hartberg in Berlin in 1933 and at the Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf in 1934 and 1935. In 1933 she relocated to Belgrade, Yugoslavia, where she held several more solo exhibitions. During the Belgrade years, Rikko also made study trips to Spain, Italy, and the Balkans.

New York years

In 1937 Rikko relocated permanently to New York due to the rise of the Nazi party in Germany. (Her parents and a sister died at Auschwitz, her brother survived and eventually joined her in the United States). Her first American exhibitions were at the New York City World's Fair in 1939, at Carroll College in Helena Montana in 1941, the British Art Center in New York in 1945, and the Village Art Center in 1949. Rikko exhibited predominantly in Europe during the 1950s, with shows at the Platts Gallery in the Hague in 1954, the Galerie Sothman in Amsterdam in 1956, at the Museum of Modern Art in Arnhem in 1957, and at the Galerie t'Venster in Rotterdam in 1958. The curators at Arnhem described her work as “towards the abstract,” saying that “[m]ost of the exhibited works have a specific idea, although the expression of atypical color and rhythm is of paramount importance. The artist expresses ‘movements’… the rhythm of life itself.” Rikko also painted a large mural in the new Bouwcentrum in Rotterdam in 1956 with Henry Moore.

In 1959, the famed Bodley Gallery on Manhattan’s Upper East Side hosted an exhibition of Rikko’s oils and gouaches. The curators praised Rikko for her “ability to ‘see,’ to perceive that which gives meaning, significance, or beauty to a landscape, a human situation or problem, or even an idea.” The show was also reviewed by Stuart Preston in the New York Times, who described Rikko’s work as “an excitable style, a feeling for sullen color and greater loyalty to gestures with the palette knife than the subject matter.” The Bodley Gallery ran additional shows of Rikko’s work in 1960 and 1967.

Later life

Rikko exhibited only sporadically during the latter part of her life, but taught private art lessons in New York City. She died in 1998.

Exhibitions listing

• Galerie Hartberg, Berlin, 1933
• Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, 1934 & 1935
• World's Fair, New York City, 1939
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, 1940
• Carrol College, Helena,1941
• British Art Center, New York City, 1945
• Village Art Center, New York City, 1949 & 1953
• Platts Gallery, the Hague, 1954
• Galerie Sothman, Amsterdam, 1956
• Museum of Modern Art, Arnhem, 1957
• Galerie t'Venster , Rotterdam, 1958
• Bodley Gallery, New York City, 1959 & 1960
• The Little Gallery, Philadelphia, 1960
• Cocoa-Tree LTD, Atlanta, 1960
• Bouwcentrum, Rotterdam, 1960
• Galerie Schaumann, Essen, 1961
• Hanover Gallery, London, 1962
• Bodley Gallery, New York City, 1967