Morris Hirshfield | |
---|---|
Born | 1872 |
Died | 1946 New York City, New York, USA |
Nationality | Jewish-American |
Known for | Painting |
Movement | Contemporary Art |
Morris Hirshfield (1872–1946) was a Polish-American painter. He "is considered one of the most critically acclaimed self-taught artists of the 20th century" according to the J. Paul Getty Museum. [1]
Hirshfield was born in Poland, but emigrated to the United States at the age of eighteen. He found employment at a women's coat factory; later, he founded a business with his brother, first manufacturing women's coats, then women's slippers. He retired in 1935 due to failing health. [2]
Hirshfield began to paint in 1937. He was soon championed by gallerist Sidney Janis, who had a great interest in self-taught artists. Janis included some of Hirshfield's works in a 1939 exhibition, Contemporary Unknown American Painters, and a 1942 book, They Taught Themselves: American Primitive Painters of the 20th Century. [3] His painting found favor in surrealist circles; he was lauded by André Breton, [4] and was a participant in the first American surrealist exhibition, First Papers of Surrealism, in 1942. [3]
He received a one-man show at the Museum of Modern Art in 1943. [2] The show occasioned some negative criticism; Art Digest referred to Hirshfield as "The Master of Two Left Feet", [5] and the bad press the show received figured into the demotion of MoMA's director, Alfred H. Barr Jr. [3]
Hirshfield died in New York City in 1946. [1]
Only 77 works were created by Hirschfield during his career. [4] His heavily patterned work, featuring women or animals, is often reminiscent of textiles, perhaps as a legacy of his first career. [3]
Morris Hirshfield | |
---|---|
Born | 1872 |
Died | 1946 New York City, New York, USA |
Nationality | Jewish-American |
Known for | Painting |
Movement | Contemporary Art |
Morris Hirshfield (1872–1946) was a Polish-American painter. He "is considered one of the most critically acclaimed self-taught artists of the 20th century" according to the J. Paul Getty Museum. [1]
Hirshfield was born in Poland, but emigrated to the United States at the age of eighteen. He found employment at a women's coat factory; later, he founded a business with his brother, first manufacturing women's coats, then women's slippers. He retired in 1935 due to failing health. [2]
Hirshfield began to paint in 1937. He was soon championed by gallerist Sidney Janis, who had a great interest in self-taught artists. Janis included some of Hirshfield's works in a 1939 exhibition, Contemporary Unknown American Painters, and a 1942 book, They Taught Themselves: American Primitive Painters of the 20th Century. [3] His painting found favor in surrealist circles; he was lauded by André Breton, [4] and was a participant in the first American surrealist exhibition, First Papers of Surrealism, in 1942. [3]
He received a one-man show at the Museum of Modern Art in 1943. [2] The show occasioned some negative criticism; Art Digest referred to Hirshfield as "The Master of Two Left Feet", [5] and the bad press the show received figured into the demotion of MoMA's director, Alfred H. Barr Jr. [3]
Hirshfield died in New York City in 1946. [1]
Only 77 works were created by Hirschfield during his career. [4] His heavily patterned work, featuring women or animals, is often reminiscent of textiles, perhaps as a legacy of his first career. [3]