A01424 - Frederic Thursz, A Moroccan Abstract Painter

 Frederic Matys Thursz (b. July 7, 1930, Casablanca, Morocco – d. July 4, 1992, Cologne, Germany) was a Moroccan abstract painter and teacher. He was active in the United States and France. His paintings have been shown at the Galerie Lelong, Jefferson Place Gallery, and in the Documenta 9 exhibition.

Frederic Matys Thursz was born in Casablanca on July 7, 1930, and he moved to the United States with his parents in 1941. Thursz received his BFA degree from Queens College in 1953, and his MFA degree from Columbia University in 1955. He did doctoral studies in art history at Institut d'Art et d'Archeologie in Paris, France.

In 1978, Thursz founded the group "Radical Painting" with Jerry Zeniuk, Joseph Marioni, Günther Umberg, Erik Saxon, and Marcia Hafif, among others.

Thursz taught at the University of Kentucky from 1958 to 1968, and at the Aspen School of Contemporary Art from 1967 to 1969. He also taught at Kingsborough Community College (CUNY) from 1968 to 1991; where he was chairman of the Art Department. From 1978 to 1988, Thursz taught at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture.

Thursz was married three times. He was married to Miryam Neulander, Teresea Bennett, and Nina Lunenborg Thursz. He had four children. Thursz lived in Paris, France until just before his death in 1992.

Thursz died of complications after heart surgery on July 4, 1992, in Cologne, Germany. He had maintained an art studio in Ossining, New York, until his death.

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Frederic Matys Thursz, Abstract Painter, 62

July 10, 1992

Credit...The New York Times Archives

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July 10, 1992, Section D, Page 16Buy Reprints

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Frederic Matys Thursz, an abstract painter of monochromatic canvases, died last Saturday at University Hospital in Cologne, Germany. He was 62 years old and lived in Paris. He also had a studio in Ossining, N.Y.

He died of complications after heart surgery, said Lilly Wei, an art critic and friend.

Mr. Thursz's paintings are on view at Galerie Lelong, 20 West 57th Street, Manhattan, and in "Documenta 9," the international exhibition in Kassel, Germany.

Mr. Thursz's paintings, often large, explore the effects of color and light. A believer in paint itself as the conveyor of meaning, he achieved his deep, luminous colors by applying layer after layer of viscous boiled paint, scraping, glazing and reworking the surface to a prismatic intensity. His artistic development was linked with both the New York School, in particular Mark Rothko, and the postwar School of Paris, especially Jean Fautrier.

He was born in Casablanca, Morocco, on July 7, 1930, and moved to the United States with his parents in 1941. He was educated at Queens College and Columbia University and taught at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture until his death.

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He is survived by his third wife, Nina Lunenborg Thursz, of Paris; four children from two previous marriages, Gail, of El Toro, Calif.; Erica, of Cortland, N.Y.; Elizabeth Thursz Ross, of North Long Beach, Calif., and Michele Thursz Tryba, of Chicago, and a brother, Dr. Daniel Thursz, of Bethesda, Md.