Maurice Newman was a painter, sculptor, model maker and photographer. He was the son of Abraham Newman and Tobi Schmukler, and was born in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

in 1898. He was married to Edythe Brenda Tichell from 1930 to his death in 1977. He had one daughter, Rachel Newman. In his teens, Newman left Lithuania to live in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and acted as a messenger, delivering messages between clandestine lovers; he spoke Russian, Lithuanian, Polish, German and Yiddish. He then lived in England and South Africa, attending the National School of Arts in Johannesburg. In the early 1920s, Newman migrated to the U.S., lived in Boston, and worked in the Newton offices of the

Bachrach Studios Bachrach Studios is an American photographic studio, believed to be one of the oldest continuously operating photography studios in the world. History It was founded in Baltimore in 1868 by David Bachrach, David Bachrach, Jr. The studio's found ...

. After a brief stint as a retoucher at the White Studios in New York City, he returned to Boston to work as a commercial artist while attending the

Vesper George School of Art The Vesper George School of Art was a school in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1924 and closed in 1983. History The school namesake and founder was (1865–1934) a painter, born in Boston. The campus had been located at 44 Sa ...

, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (now the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts), and the Woodbury School of Art. In 1940, Newman was employed as a model maker by Federal Works of Art Passive Defense Project ( Federal Art Project). In 1942 he relocated to Alexandria Virginia as a civilian Army employee to head the model shop in the United States Army Engineer Research and Development Laboratory at Fort Belvoir. During World War II, he constructed dioramas and topographical bombing maps. Following the war, projects shifted to the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

and

civil defense Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...

. In retirement, Newman was able to fully devote his time to portrait painting, as well as sculptures in wood and aluminum. His aluminum sculpture, one of the first U.S. memorials to the six million Jews martyred by Hitler, was unveiled in 1963 at the

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

Jewish Community Center; the keynote speaker at the unveiling was former President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

.
''KC Fountains'', November 17, 2016 His dioramas and miniatures were exhibited at the

Boston Children's Museum Boston Children's Museum is a children's museum in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the education of children. Located on Children's Wharf along the Fort Point Channel, Boston Children's Museum is the second oldest children's museum in the Unit ...

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...

and the Peabody Essex Museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Maurice 20th-century American painters 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists 1898 births 1977 deaths Federal Art Project artists American male painters American male sculptors Jewish American artists Jewish painters Scale modeling Visual arts genres American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American artists 20th-century American Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States