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Kim Novak: Tribute on the Occasion of Her Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award

Jul 10, 2025 | Exhibition

Art

Kim Novak: Tribute on the Occasion of Her Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award

July 20, 2025 - November 24, 2025
A tree that resembles a human form arches out of a misty purple scene.

Kim Novak, “Once Upon a Time,” Oil on board, Gift of the Artist 2025.

About The Art

The Butler Institute is honoring Kim Novak with an exhibition of her paintings from the permanent collection.

Kim is receiving the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival (August 27 – September 6, 2025).

The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement is an award given at the Venice Film Festival. It is awarded to directors, actors, and other personalities from the world of cinema who have distinguished themselves in the art world. The decision was made by the Board of Directors of La Biennale, upon recommendation of the Artistic Director of the Festival, Alberto Barbera. On this occasion, the documentary Kim Novak’s Vertigo by Alexandre Philippe, made in exclusive collaboration with the actress, will be presented in its world premiere screening.

Kim Novak, in accepting the offer, declared: “I am deeply, deeply touched to receive the prestigious Golden Lion Award from such an enormously respected film festival. To be recognized for my body of work at this time in my life is a dream come true. I will treasure every moment I spend in Venice. It will fill my heart with joy.”

Kim Novak has painted most of her life. She considers what she does as “storytelling art.” As a young girl she won two scholarships from the Chicago Art Institute. Her art comes from her heart and soul, revealing her truth and exposing her deepest feelings. The paintings are a manifestation of her feelings. Her themes are universal. Ms. Novak’s passion for her work can be seen within the work. Kim Novak opens herself up to the viewer with her paintings and poems. Her poems give the clues.

“Before I leave this world, I would like you to see into my art, and into my soul…from my perspective. Since childhood I have looked at life through the magnifying lens of a very vivid imagination. I enjoy dissected insights, painting visions, and often turning words into verse, my rhyming words into a kind of ‘treasure hunt.’ My greatest desire has always been to touch your emotions like you have touched mine… with all the colors of a rainbow. Matters have always mattered to my bipolar self. They were given free rein to fly me high above the clouds on horseback-yet within a nanosecond could drop me to the knees of despair. I have watched songbirds turn into vultures circling my body and feasting on my grief. All the while I am trying to express the haunting images that simply want to find the light of day! So, this is what I want to share with you…my highs and lows from so many, many years of experiencing the mystery of life at its core.”   – Kim Novak

“Kim Novak’s art, so sensitively created, carries powerful lessons. Through her career as a painter, she shares her innermost thoughts and reflections on the human condition. Her works captivate us just as her wide-ranging movie roles have, and they continue to amaze. The Butler’s outstanding collection of Novak’s paintings shows that it is indeed possible for an artist to excel in more than one field and to be inventive in each. The Butler is deeply honored to share this exceptional collection of Kim Novak’s work, just as she is honored by this special lifetime achievement award in Europe. She is an artist of remarkable skill and intellectual depth. The Butler is proud to once again present the work of this great American artist.”   – Dr. Louis Zona

The Butler has reprinted Kim Novak’s book, Her Art and Life, which is on sale in the museum store and on our website.

 

This exhibition is on view in Giffuni Gallery, 2nd floor.

CATEGORIES: Exhibition

DATE: July 20, 2025 - November 24, 2025

LOCATION: Giffuni Gallery

Selected Works

Three figures surrounded by surreal imagery including Golden Gate bridge and a tower. Clouds swirl, forming an eye. The man grips the edge of a ledge while women with stoic faces look on.

Vertigo

Kim Novak

A painting of numerous faces protruding from the sides and bottom of the canvas. Two faces are red in color and outlined in yellow. No distinguishable features can be seen. The two figures on either side of the canvas face one another while drips of blue paint fall over parts of their faces. Three other partial faces are on the bottom in a line. One purple, one red, and one blue with with other colors mixed in. The background is textured and mostly blue with hints of purple and yellow. Novak is signed on the bottom right side.

A Mile in Their Shoes

Kim Novak

Painting of an eagle head with two women's faces and a fetus. The eagle head is central with a circle of light, almost like the crescent of a moon surrounding the head. White beams of light come down from the peach-colored sky on the right side of the painting, shining on the eagle's face. More white bird faces appear from the beams of light, like clouds in the sky. A woman's profile is looking toward the eagle, and the fetus is directly next to her face withe its arm reaching toward the other woman's face, which is directly looking at the viewer. Both women appear to be smiling and are engulfed in wave-like forms of blue, white, and peach colors.

Twilight Flight

Kim Novak

Painting of a frog resting on rocks or a mound with a woman wearing a mask hovering above the frog. There are blue, red, and yellow drips falling downward on the right and left sides of the painting. The frog and woman are mostly yellow in color, with hints of purple, green, orange. Tiny faces are hidden throughout the painting.

We Will Get Through This Together

Kim Novak

Painting of a man's profile with colorful stroke marks that come up from under his chin and onto the top of his head, resembling a wave. The man's blue eyes stare off into the distance. All colors of the rainbow can be seen throughout.

A Wave of Memories, A Hand, Full of Feelings

Kim Novak

A painting of a dog's face with long, wiry hair. On eye is covered with fur while the other is exposed. The hair strands are various colors of blue, purple, orange, teal, and pink. Red accents are on the dog's nose and eye. The background has drips of orange, red, and yellow coming down from the top.

Remembering Sadie, The Face of a Lady

Kim Novak

Painting of the artist Kim Novak with a crow. She appears to be touching her lips to the beak of the bird. The painting is heavily textured with a rainbow of colors throughout. The background is mostly pink. The crow is mostly purple, blue, and black. Kim's hair is mostly blonde with rainbow-colored streaks.

They Won’t Let Me Go, Yet

Kim Novak

Close up painting of a woman's eye. Her yellow hair covers the left upper corner of the canvas, and her fingers reach up to touch her cheekbone next to her eye. Yellow lines under the eye mimic the appearance of wrinkles, combined with lines of white, purple, pink, and blue. Her top eyelid is outlined by a line of yellow. Blue, purple, and pink make up the color of her skin. Novak is signed in the bottom left corner.

In the Looking Glass

Kim Novak

A painting full of colorful lines, swirls, and drips. Central are a pair of yellow-colored eyes that make eye contact with the viewer. The profile of a face protrudes from the central eyes with the mouth parted open. Within the swirls, imagery of geese and wildlife. Colors of yellow, purple, blue, white, orange, red, and green make up the textured patterns and lines.

My Symphony of Emotions

Kim Novak

Painting of a slightly abstract dog centered around colorful marks that create movement. A woman's face is on the left side of the canvas with her legs mimicking mountains that the dog is standing on. Her hand reaches outward toward the bottom of the canvas, as if to cradle the image. Black birds fly in the distance above the woman and dog. The painting contains a rainbow of colors and textures.

Before and After the War, A Dog’s Tale

Kim Novak

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