Paul Resika (b. 1928, New York, New York) is best known for his paintings of iconic Provincetown forms. His boats and fish houses, archetypes of a seaside fishing village, his still lifes, and nudes in the landscape, in every medium, vibrate and float, recede into the shadows and mist, throw their own black shadow on the yellow, sun-blazed side of a shack – all dependent on his masterful juxtaposition of colors on the canvas. His influences include Abstract Expressionism, Realism, and Impressionism.
The artist studied under Hans Hofmann as a teenager in New York and Provincetown before departing for Venice and Rome in 1950 to study the old masters. After casting aside Hofmann’s abstract principles, his Italian palette turned sober and descriptive. Upon his return to the United States, Resika devoted himself increasingly to the exploration of light and color, and the synthesis of abstraction and representation.
Resika splits his time between New York and Truro, Massachusetts. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1984) and has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1994).
