Robert Zakanitch
American, b. 1935
Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Robert Zakanitch grew up in Rahway, NJ before moving to New York City where he continues to live and work. In the late 1960’s the artist experimented with Color Field painting but rejected its’ minimalism and lack of visual pleasure. Like many of the other members of the Pattern & Decoration Movement, Zakanitch became fascinated by the possibilities of pattern which they saw as a “third alternative painting style” (p. 108 Pattern & Decoration: An Ideal Vision in American Art, 1975-1985).
By about 1974 the Pattern & Decoration Movement began to gain traction with shows at the Holly Solomon Gallery and Tibor De Nagy Gallery as well as being featured at the 1975 Whitney Biennial. In 1983, the year that Zakanitch executed Untitled for Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center, the Pattern & Decoration was at its’ pinnacle. Zakanitch has continued his interest in this type of art and has collaborated on a number of major public projects with renowned architect Cesar Pelli. He also continues to exhibit and illustrate children’s books.