""They seem to be sitting around, the way they might in the studio," Cajori replies, "but in my view, they are by the sea." Not causeurs, then, but late 20th century sisters of Cezanne's or Matisse's bathers, and like them, inhabitants of of an idyllic, pastoral world, wholly absorbed in simply being. "I want the figures to be about the dynamics of anticipating gesture or movement." Cajori says of these pictures."
- Karen Wilkin, Interivew with Charles Cajori, 1996
Charles Cajori (1921-2013) was a founding member of the Tanager Gallery, a prominent figure in the second generation of Abstract Expressionists, and a vital contributor to postwar American art.
In the 1950s, he co-founded the Tanager Gallery in New York, which became a significant meeting place for emerging New York School artists. He was also a co-founder of the New York Studio School in 1964.
Cajori's art was deeply concerned with space, form, and the interplay of color planes. He believed in the intuitive creation of complex relationships and tensions on the canvas, resulting in what he called "dislocations from the normative."
He was inspired by Cézanne's work and how it revolutionized perception. His art often explored the dynamic nature of visual experience. While he worked on landscapes and non-representational pieces in his early career, Cajori later shifted his focus to the human figure, using expressive, colorful techniques reminiscent of Matisse and de Kooning.
Cajori's artistic philosophy emphasized the acknowledgment of chaos, followed by a struggle for coherence. His art was improvisational and constantly evolving. As a teacher, Cajori influenced and mentored many, encouraging students to perceive spatial relationships in a fresh light.
His work is featured in major museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum, and the Hirshhorn Museum. He received several awards throughout his career, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Jimmy Ernst Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.