Ivan Karp

Charlotteville- Ivan Karp died at 86 on June 28th, 2012 of natural causes. He was born on June 4, 1926 and was raised in Brooklyn, New York. During WWII he served in the U.S. Air Force in the South Pacific. In 1948-1949 he attended the New School and the New Institute for Film on the G.I. Bill and in 1954 he became the first Art critic for the Village Voice.

In 1958 Ivan became an art dealer at the Martha Jackson Gallery. His short stories were published in the Cambridge Review and the Evergreen Review. In 1964 he married Marilynn Gelfman, moved to Manhattan and they bought their property in Charlotteville, New York. Ivan's novel "Doobie Doo" was published by Doubleday, NY and Heineman, London.

From 1959-1969 Ivan was associate director of the Leo Castelli Gallery and played a significant role in the careers of Warhol, Lichtenstein, Chamberlain and many other artists in the New York art community. From 1966 to 1969, he taught contemporary art history at Finch College and at the School of Visual Arts. 1966 through 2011, he lectured on fine art subjects, nationally and internationally at universities, museums and other art venues over 300 times and appeared on TV on BBC, NBC, PBS & CBS, including the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

In 1969 he opened OK Harris Works of Art, a pioneer gallery in Soho; responsible for the burgeoning of that neighborhood to a vibrant residential and commercial district. OK Harris continues to operate in its original space. In 1997 and in 2006 Ivan was awarded honorary Doctoral degrees, in Fine Arts and in the Humanities, respectively.

Since its 1950 founding, through the present he has been President of the Anonymous Arts Recovery Society, which has rescued over 1,000 architectural sculptures and ornaments from demolished buildings in New York State and placed them in the public domain in six museums in the United States

1964 through the present he has been involved in historic building restoration. In 1985, Ivan became Director of the Anonymous Arts Museum in Charlotteville, NY and has restored twenty-five historic cemeteries and family burial grounds in Schoharie County.

Ivan is survived by his wife Marilynn, sons Ethan and Jesse, daughter Amie and two granddaughters, Zoe and Verity. A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Anonymous Arts Recovery Society c/o OK Harris, 383 West Broadway, New York, NY 10012 or the Museum of the History of Charlotteville.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Mereness-Putnam Funeral Home, 171 Elm St., Cobleskill and Palmer & Shaylor Funeral Home, 134 River St., Middleburgh.