Mature Pupil, watercolor, late 1950's
JUSTICE, early 1960's
Untitled, late 1960's
PRAYING, 1960's
Reclining Nude
Sitting Nude
Blue NudeHere are seven watercolor paintings that were painted by my father. The dates of the paints range from the late 1950's to the late 1960's. In the mid-1950's, my father took up watercolor and starting painting again. As a teenager he had attended night classes at the Cincinnati Art Academy in the late 1920's. He left the field of art during the Great Depression and did not return to painting until the mid-1950's. However, he kept his "eye" and hand moving by doing sketches in his hardware store when he was not busy. One customer of the hardware store would bring my Dad his old PLAYBOY magazines to look at and read. My dad would draw the skeleton of the nude in ballpoint pen over the photographs of the nudes as a way to work on his knowledge of the human anatomy. He joined the Cincinnati Art Club in the early 1960's and was a regular at the Thursday Night Sketch Group. He really enjoyed that night out of the house and sharing and learning from the other men in the club. The above nudes are from those sketch group sessions which he would later work on at home. I apologize for the hot spots on the photos, I took the photos just this morning and needed the extra light of the flash. I thought you all would enjoy getting to see a real artist, my Dad.
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4 comments:
Outstanding stuff. Thanks, Fred. Really, really worth seeing. That 'Pupil' piece is amazing.
Thanks for the compliments, I know my Father would have liked that. This morning in describing the paintings that I had posted to a friends, I referred them as "three nudes and a rabbi"; however, though my Father had a good sense of humor, I think he would have better approved of the title I went with.
Hope you have a nice Father's Day!
He was a wonderful, Fred. I really like the looseness of his nudes, his focus on light and how it plays across their bodies. I always find it amazing how you can feel the artist spirit in their work.
I have no doubt these are very precious keepsakes for you. As Lou said, thank for sharing them with us.
Father’s Day is kind of sad for us without our Dads, huh? But just the memories of them are so very comforting.
Vikki
Glad everyone that got to see his work enjoyed it. As he painted in watercolor, I have boxes of watercolors unframed. I was going to write something for Father's Day, but I think the paintings say enough. My father was a very gentle man. I got some of his gentleness, but I also got some stuff from my mother that made me more durable. All four of my grand parents were born in Russia. Coming from a long line of Russian Jews, I got my survival skills as part of the package. And, I never forget that all four of them had a much tougher life than me. Those of us that are born here in the USA, are indeed fortunate.
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