R.B. Kitaj: Literary Modernist Remembered in Exhibitions and Readings

R.B. Kitaj, the American-born painter known for infusing his work with literary references, is the subject of multiple concurrent events. The exhibition "Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life" features Kitaj alongside other figurative painters, on view through August 27. At Marlborough Chelsea, "R.B. Kitaj: The Exile at Home" is accompanied by a 2003 interview. The artist's diaries are being read by the author at the New York Public Library this Tuesday. A former student and friend recalls Kitaj as a generous curmudgeon. Kitaj's work broke modernist taboos by being unabashedly literary, prompting Hilton Kramer to complain that his paintings were "littered with ideas." Despite his referential nature, Kitaj remained a consummately visual artist. At a recent opening at L.A. Louver in Venice, California, a lady asked him, "Where are all the beautiful women?" Kitaj, who battled deafness, replied incredulously, "What?"