Gouache on paper / collage, signed lower right, dated 1957, noted "For Jess & David, Sept 2". Representation of French horn, guitar, and blue bird holding a star. Sight: 7.75" height, 5.75" width; frame: 20.75" height, 15.75" width

About the Artist: Gluck did tours in the Army and Air Force, first at Fort Dix, and then in the South Pacific. Upon returning, he worked as a designer for New Jersey's L. Bamberger department store and eventually landed at an ad agency, the Rockmore Company. There, he ad run-ins with Warhol, who freelanced at the agency. The two clearly had higher ambitions, as evidenced by a group exhibition of commercial artists at Vito Giallo's Loft Gallery in 1952 including Warhol, Gluck, and Giallo himself. Gluck would later be informed by Giallo, who was Warhol's first paid assistant, of his departure, insisting that Warhol was looking for a replacement. Gluck took up the offer and landed under the auspices of Warhol. Soon after, he was helping increase the output of Warhol's inkblot illustrations, teaching him how to marbleize paper, and possibly, catalyzing him to adopt the silkscreen method that would come to represent his principle method of production.

From roughly 1955 to 1966, Nathan Gluck was Andy Warhol's primary assistant, and in many ways, was as essential to the latter's art as the man himself. This approximate ten-year period coincided with Warhol's transition from a commercial artist who did illustrations for Blue Note records and the Miller Shoe Company, to an era-defining Pop artist. This transition represented both an extension and innovation of the techniques Warhol used to produce his art from his earliest days, and Gluck played a substantial role in their refinement. While Gluck had a hand in shaping and creating Warhol's illustrations and designs, particularly Warhol's early transitional Pop works, Gluck also spent time creating his own works of art with a special interest in collage. His earlier works were influenced by Max Ernst, de Chirico, and Picasso, while his later works relied on Gluck's own originality, skill, and knowledge.

Solo Exhibitions: Ephemeral Musings (2017) Reinhold Brown Gallery, New York, NY; Nathan Gluck: Collages (2001) The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburg, PA; and Limited Time Offer (2008) Athenaeum of Music and Arts Library, La Jolla, CA.

Permanent Collections: The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburg, PA; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; Athenaeum of Music and Arts Library, La Jolla, CA; and other private collections.

All of these interests take their rightful place in his work, along with a broad range of stylistic influences, from Cubism and Surrealism to Pop. He was the quintessential cosmopolitan New Yorker, charming and erudite, and part of the first generation of LGBT artists that rose to prominence after World War II.