Jake Berthot was born in 1939 in Niagara Falls, New York and reared by his maternal grandparents on a dirt farm in rural Pennsylvania. Because he was dyslexic, he had trouble with schoolwork, yet he loved writing and reading. When he was alone, he would make pages of “pretend writing,” scrolling script that flowed across the paper without real words or syntax, and he drew pictures constantly. His talent was recognized and encouraged by his grandmother.
He attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, but left at the beginning of his second year. At loose ends, he next attended a technical school where he took a window-dressing course. In 1960 he married his high school sweetheart, Ginny MacKenzie and they had one son, John. The window-dressing helped support them for years while he tried to find himself in painting. He went to Pratt for evening classes and soon was invited to teach a class there. He also taught at Cooper Union and has taught at Yale since 1982. His work has moved from cool geometric abstractions to encrusted, passionately felt canvasses that seek to unveil “bare-boned, raw experience.”
Written and submitted by Jean Ershler Schatz, artist and researcher from Laguna Woods, California.
