PAUL EDWARD GORKA. 1931-2020

Paul was born in Nanticoke, a coal mining town in northeastern Pennsylvania, surrounded by mountains, lakes and forests. He grew up at a time when the population had reached 26,000 and whose prosperity produced stately homes and buildings, thriving stores, movie theaters and restaurants, schools, churches and a hospital.

The beauty of the natural world around him engendered a lifelong interest in horticulture and all living things from which was the subject for many paintings and sculptures were derived.

His interest in drawing and painting was evident early on and the cultural aspirations of his father led to art classes at the Sherwood School of Art and twelve years of studying classical piano. During his high school years, he pursued his many interests by becoming the "resident" artist where he created maps and charts, stage sets for school productions and was chief editor and photographer for the yearbook and a top-notch athlete in fast-pitch softball, track, basketball and gymnastics. He graduated as the valedictorian of Nanticoke High School in 1948 and was accepted at University of Pennsylvania which he entered the following fall semester.

With the intention of becoming a physician, he was enrolled in classes dominated by returning WWII veterans and he felt challenged and diminished by their worldliness. His course of study was interrupted when he was recruited into the CIC (Central Intelligence Corps) of the US Army where he stationed in Germany during the Korean War. He studied German language and history at the University of Munich and served in various guises, one of which was as basketball player for the US team who succeeded in winning the European Championship in 1956.

His experience with his accomplished peers challenged and inspired him and he returned to Penn with a renewed vigor and self-confidence. He diverted from his initial goal of a career in medicine to immerse himself in the study of the liberal and especially the fine arts and he graduated with a BFA in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1955 where he was the recipient of the prestigious Cresson and Scheidt Traveling Scholarships, the Grant Prize and the Tappan Prize. As a student, he was the youngest to win first prize at the Philadelphia Sketch Club annual juried show.

After traveling through Ireland on a scholarship where he frequently would draw and sketch the places where he stayed and it's inhabitants in order to "draw for his supper". He moved to New York city to continue his studies at NYU and the Art Students League of New York where he concentrated on figurative studies. Eventually, economic concerns led him into a successful illustration career but he felt frustrated by the lack of artistic freedom and passion for purpose and meaning in his art.

He returned to Philadelphia where he continued his study at PAFA and where he began a long and illustrious career as a teacher originating at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Tyler School of Art, and subsequently many museums and art centers and eventually his private studio where he cultivated his unconventional philosophy and technique in his loyal students and followers.

He never stopped striving for excellence in every endeavor and he became a champion ultra-runner in races that could last days and involved mind-bending hours of endurance. He coached the women's track team for Cheltenham Hospital and led them to victory year after year. He loved to run and always felt that he could think and imagine the best when he was making his daily trek around the River drives in Fairmount Park where he maintained a large vegetable garden by the railroad tracks. He would often drag large branches from the park to assemble his large additive wood sculpture.

His painting style and palette evolved into what he described as "fantasy realism" and would alternately change from deep, sober psychological probes to whimsy and satire. He was an ardent believer that art should stimulate the viewer's mind and emotions and not be purely aesthetic theories derived from art history. His passion for life never diminished and he continued to paint, garden, tap-dance, play the piano, read and explore well into his 90th year.

"I've probably made over 3000 paintings, have them in museums and collections all over the country, but have little record of where most of them are. During 45 years of this time, I slept no more than 4 to 5 hours a day. Everything is and was so exciting. I look in awe and I love painting. It has all been very nice!!!......a great ride and a wonder beyond all my expectations"

ACCOLADES

Cresson Travelling Scholarship, 1960 PAFA Scheidt Travelling Scholarship, 1961 PAFA
Grant Prize for Still Life, 1961 PAFA
Toppan Prize for Advanced Composition, 1962 PAFA
Second Charles K. Smith Prize, Woodmere Art Gallery, 1962
Lloyd Van Sciver Memorial Prize, Woodmere Art Gallery, 1963
First Prize Religious Show, Springfield, Pa., 1963
First Prize Liturgical Show, Philadelphia, 1963
Purchase Prize Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Mass., 1963
Gold Medal Philadelphia Sketch Club, 1964
Purchase Prize, Woodmere Gallery, 1964
Bellinger Award and Peoples Favorite Award, Chautauqua, N. Y., 1964
First Prize Chestnut Hill Art Show, 1964
Violet Oakley Memorial Prize, Woodmere Art Gallery, 1965
Honorable Mention, PAFA 1966
Purchase Prize, PAFA 1966