In production, 2024 release

Jack Youngerman (1926-2020) was an important second-generation abstract expressionist, who continued to maintain an active daily studio practice until the end of his life. Over a period of six years, Checkerboard Films and photographer Laurie Lambrecht interviewed Youngerman at his studio in Bridgehampton, NY about his fascinating life and career, from Paris in the late 1940’s, where he married actress Delphine Seyrig; to Coenties Slip in New York City, where they moved in 1956 with son Duncan; to the Guggenheim Museum retrospective in 1986; to recent exhibitions of his paintings and sculpture.

Jack Youngerman was born in Kentucky in 1926. He studied at the Universities of North Carolina and Missouri before serving in WWII. From 1947-1948, he studied painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he lived and worked until 1956. After success in Paris, he returned to New York City, where in 1958, his paintings were first exhibited at Betty Parsons Gallery. In the 1970s, he shifted media and began creating sculpture. Jack Youngerman’s resume includes many solo and group exhibitions; his art is included in many public collections.

Our films follows the trajectory of his long career, whose work was informed by his experiences in the Middle East in the mid 1950’s when he visited important archeological and historical sites with Henri Seyrig, his father in law, who was Director of the French Archeological Institute in Beirut.