Ary Stillman (February 13, 1891 – January 28, 1967) was a representational and
abstract Russian-American
Russian Americans ( rus, русские американцы, r=russkiye amerikantsy, p= ˈruskʲɪje ɐmʲɪrʲɪˈkant͡sɨ) are Americans of full or partial Russians, Russian ancestry. The term can apply to recent Russian diaspora, Russian imm ...
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
born in
Hresk near
Slutsk
Slutsk ( officially transliterated as Sluck, be, Слуцк; russian: Слуцк; pl, Słuck, lt, Sluckas, Yiddish/Hebrew: סלוצק ''Slutsk'') is a city in Belarus, located on the Sluch River south of Minsk. As of 2022, its population is ...
,
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
. He excelled in art as a youth, and after graduating from school he was accepted into the
Imperial School of Art in
Vilna
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...
.
Immigration to the United States
Stillman
immigrate
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
d to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
after less than two years at the Imperial School, landing in
Sioux City
Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...
,
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
at the age of 16. He worked in a local jewelry store to pay the bills, but spent every moment he could painting. After a short stint at the
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
, Ary once again was on the move, relocating to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1919 at the age of 28. In New York, he studied at the
National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...
(the predecessor of what is now the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts).
The Paris years
Never one to let grass beneath his feet, Ary once again moved in 1921, this time to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, where he lived and worked for 12 years. He experienced commercial and artistic success in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, including a one-man show at the Galerie
Bernheim-Jeune
Bernheim-Jeune gallery is one of the oldest art galleries in Paris.
Opened on Rue Laffitte in 1863 by Alexandre Bernheim (1839-1915), friend of Delacroix, Corot and Courbet, it changed location a few times before settling on Avenue Matignon. The ...
and regular exhibits at the
Salon d'Automne
The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...
, Salon des Echanges
1932, Salone National des Beaux-Arts and the Salon de Tulleries. Although his work had been largely objective until the early 1930s, a careful study of his early art reveals the roots of his later
abstract work and shows his interest in the artistic arrangement of shapes to convey a subjective meaning.
The Holocaust triggers a move towards abstract art
Ary Stillman returned to
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
in 1933 as a successful and well-known artist. Among other galleries, from 1935-1937 Ary exhibited at the Guild Art Gallery owned and directed by
Margaret Lefranc
Margaret Lefranc (''nee'' Frankel; later Schoonover) (March 15, 1907September 5, 1998) was an American painter, illustrator and editor, an American Modernist with early training as a color expressionist. Lefranc produced portraits, figures, flora ...
. His work during this time became more subjective (although still
representational). At this time Ary became more concerned with his interpretation of the deeper inner content of his subject, and less interested with its objective outer form. When the horrors of the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
were revealed, Ary abruptly shifted his focus to
abstract works, and by 1948, his work was completely non-objective. During the early 1950s Ary had a one-person show every year at the
Bertha Schaefer Gallery
Bertha Schaefer (1895–1971) was an American designer and gallery director, she was known for her furniture designs, and as an interior designer.
Biography
Schaefer was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi in 1895. Her father Emil Schaefer was a ref ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Later life
In the mid-1950s after becoming almost blind in one eye and losing his treasured
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
studio to city developers, Ary became
depressed. He couldn’t seem to find the right environment to help him out of his depression, trying
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
Majorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
and
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
before moving to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
in early 1957. He lived and worked in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
for five years, returning to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and settling in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
(where his sister lived), where he lived out the rest of his days. Ary Stillman died in 1967. Upon his death, the
Stillman-Lack
/span> foundation was found, in accordance with his instructions, to preserve his work and make it available.
Ary Stillman at Columbia University
In 2010 Columbia University received from the Stillman-Lack Foundation a collection of art works by Stillman, making Columbia the largest international repository of his works. Of the ninety painting and drawings donated to the University, twenty-five have been allocated as gifts to graduating doctoral candidates in the Department of Art History and Archaeology who are recipients of a Stillman fellowship. The remaining sixty-five paintings, drawings, watercolors, and prints are part of the University art collection, housed in and stewarded by Art Properties, Avery Library.
References
External links
*
/span>
The Alchemy of Light: The Art of Ary Stillman exhibition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stillman, Ary
1967 deaths
1891 births
20th-century American painters
20th-century Russian painters
American male painters
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
Belarusian Jews
Jewish American artists
Russian male painters
Modern painters
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male artists
20th-century Russian male artists
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States