ARTIST: Alexander Minewski (New York, Michigan, 1917 - 1979)
NAME: Nude
MEDIUM: watercolor on paper
CONDITION: Very good. Minor wear to edges.
SIGHT SIZE: 14 x 10 inches / 35 x 25 cm
FRAME SIZE: unframed (In-House framing available)
SIGNATURE: Lower right
CATEGORY: antique vintage painting
SKU#: 116453
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Alexander Minewski (New York, Michigan, 1917 - 1979)
Alexander Minewski left home at the age of 14 to work in the circus, helping set up and take down the equipment. He always aspired to be ringmaster but never got that far in his entertainment career. After this adventure, he worked as a sign painter and a logger, where he constantly kept his sketchbook nearby. Eventually, he received scholarships so that he had the opportunity to study at the Art Students League in New York City. There, great artists such as Jean Charlot, Ernest Fiene, George Grosz and Vaclav Vytlacil influenced his work.
When the United States entered World War II, Minewski joined the army and fought as a combat engineer. He was wounded in Burma while fighting with Merrill's Marauders, where he ironically received weather reports from another future Monhegan painter, Ted Davis. Minewski had to spend two years in a hospital in Burma recovering from his wounds. After this, he studied for two years on the G.I. Bill in Paris and completed two more years of training in New York City, one of which was with the great abstract painter, Hans Hofmann. Hofmann made Minewski's works much more abstract and expressionistic. Minewski's early works are characterized by their realistic yet moody quality, while his later works are examples of expressionistic realism. Later, Minewski appreciated the eclectic experiences of his young life because he felt that, "Painting should be an expression of life's experiences."
In 1966, Minewski was appointed Professor of Art at State University of New York at New Paltz. In 1954 Minewski began visiting Monhegan Island to work and collaborate with other artists and friends such as Ted Davis. Minewski received a grant to study and paint sea life while working in Monhegan and, therefore, fish often served as the subjects of his paintings. Every day he received a cod or wolf-fish head from the fishermen, which would provide the inspiration for his next painting. However, Minewski not only painted fish from Monhegan, but landscapes and seascapes as well. While working on Monhegan Island, he met his future wife, Natalie, who was a graphic designer, a book designer and an etcher.
Minewski received a number of prestigious awards during his lifetime including the Purchase Prize, 1939, the Tiffany Fellowship, 1960, honorable mention in the American Society of Casein Painters, 1964, and the Ball State Drawing Show, 1969. His most recent honor came from the selection of one of his pieces to be used on the poster advertising the Sam Dorskey Museum in New York. However, one of the most special rewards he received from his students at the State University College, New Paltz, New York. The students there organized a circus, and knowing that Minewski had always wanted to be the ringmaster as a young boy working in the circus, they nominated him to be the ringmaster of their circus. Minewski's widow, Natalie, currently lives in New Paltz, New York, and advocates for her husband's work.