Jack Martin Rogers – Artist, Philhellene, Father at Anita Rogers Gallery in NYC

Hellas has been enchanting artists, scholars, and writers for hundreds of years. Among them were Henry Miller, was drawn from Brooklyn to Marousi, and Lawrence Durrell, raised in British India, who fell in love with Corfu. In 1962 Jack Martin Rogers, who was born in Warwickshire, England found himself pulled into the magical island of Crete, and this winter some of his paintings – mainly with Greek themes – were lovingly exhibited by his daughter at her Anita Rogers Gallery in Manhattan.

The first thing on the minds of visitors is determining which of the paintings filling the four walls belonged to Rogers. They appeared to reflect a variety of styles and artistic visions, with items ranging from fully figurative to abstract – but they are all by Rogers. “He spanned over 55 years” Anita Rogers said by way of explanation – but the works appear to have been created by distinct artistic personalities. She acknowledged that, and pointed out that was also the case with Picasso – “you would not know his works were by the same artist.” She added Bob Dylan was also like that musically, and Rogers admired both.

Rogers was an avid reader and thus explorer of different worlds. “He stuck with a genre and created within it, then he stopped, Anita said. “He would travel, go to Chania, think about a new style, and he would change. He never copied – everything dad did was original.”

By Constantine S. Sirigos, The National Herald

December 30 – January 5, 2017 Issue

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