Asa Cheffetz (1896–1965) was an American artist and

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...

. Although he worked in various media, he is best known as a wood engraver.

Biography

He was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

on August 16, 1896. He moved to Massachusetts as a young boy and lived and worked most of his life in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. His parents were both born in Russia and immigrated to the United States in 1891. He studied with

Philip Leslie Hale Philip Leslie Hale (1865–1931) was an American Impressionism, American Impressionist artist, writer and teacher. His work was part of the Art competitions at the 1932 Summer Olympics#Painting, painting event in the Art competitions at the 1932 ...

at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and then studied drawing and etching 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 ...

in New York City. In New York City he roomed with and became a lifelong friend of artist Maxwell Stewart Simpson (1896-1984). Cheffetz' studies were interrupted by World War I, during which he served in United States Navy.New England Engraved, The Prints of Asa Cheffetz, Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1984 Upon his discharge he returned to the Academy, but within a year he was forced to return to Springfield to help with the family’s movie theater business.New England Engraved, The Prints of Asa Cheffetz, Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1984 In 1927 he returned to art, specifically

wood engraving Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image or ''matrix'' of images into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and ...

, a medium which he was primarily self-taught. Cheffetz was a perfectionist paying meticulous attention to the detail and gradations of each piece. He personally printed his engravings. He produced most of his body of work in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1944 he designed and engraved the official bookplate for the Library of Congress. He married Alice Dorr on June 11, 1950. Soon after Cheffetz began to suffer eye problems and at age 58 he was forced to give up wood-engraving. He became a salesman for a paper mill. Asa Cheffetz died in 1965, in Springfield, Massachusetts, and was buried in Beth El Cemetery, West Springfield, Massachusetts. His works are in permanent collections of the American Antiquarian Society, Art Institute of Chicago, D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts (Springfield, Massachusetts), Baltimore Museum Art, Boston Public Library, Bowdoin College (ME), Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Cleveland Museum Art, Davis Museum at Wesley College (Massachusetts), Emory University, Honolulu Academy of Fine Arts, Library of Congress, Los Angeles Museum, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (Memphis, Tennessee), McNay Art Museum (San Antonio, Texas), Newark Museum Art, New York Public Library, Pennsylvania Academy Fine Arts, Polish State Art Collection (Warsaw, Poland), Portland Art Museum (Maine), Princeton University, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Springfield (Massachusetts) City Library, Washington County Museum (Hagerstown, Maryland), Wesleyan University (Middletown, Connecticut), and Worcester Art Museum (Massachusetts). His work was included in the ''Fifty Prints of the Year'' in 1929 and 1934. His work was chosen for exhibition at the Century of Progress Exposition, The Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in Pais in 1937, and the 1939 New York World’s Fair. His wood etching ''Peacefull Valley'' was selected as the Print Club of Albany (NY) The Annual Print for 1943-1944. A one-man exhibition was held in 1984 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts. In connection with the show a catalogue raisonné of his works was published.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheffetz, Asa School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni 1896 births Artists from Buffalo, New York American engravers American wood engravers National Academy of Design alumni United States Navy sailors 1965 deaths

Biography

Further reading

References