Nahum Tschacbasov (1899–1984; , ) also known as Nahum Lichter, was a Russian-born American painter, printmaker, graphic artist, poet, businessperson, and educator. He used many names including Nahum Lichter, Nathan Richter, H. H. Richter, Hanathan Richter, and Nathan Lichterman. Tschacbasov was a member of "The Ten", a group of

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

artists.

Early life

He was born on August 31, 1899, in Baku,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, into a Jewish family of

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

descent. In 1905, when he was a young child, his family moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

because of

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...

s. There are varying stories as to why he used different names either due to a forged passport used for immigration; to avoid paying child support; and/or because he was a

con-man A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have de ...

. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1917 to 1919.

Career

In the 1920s and 1930s, he worked as a businessman in Chicago where he made a fortune. His second marriage was to his secretary Esther. Tschacbasov moved to France in 1932 to 1933, where he studied painting with

Adolph Gottlieb Adolph Gottlieb (March 14, 1903 – March 4, 1974) was an American abstract expressionist painter, sculptor and printmaker. Early life and education Adolph Gottlieb, one of the "first generation" of Abstract Expressionists, was born in New York ...

Marcel Gromaire Marcel Gromaire (24 July 1892 – 11 April 1971) was a French painter. He painted many works on social subjects and is often associated with Social Realism, but Gromaire can be said to have created an independent oeuvre distinct from groups a ...

, and Fernand Léger. When the family returned to the United States the Tschacbasov family moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Early in his career he had a good relationship with artists

Milton Avery Milton Clark Avery (March 7, 1885 – January 3, 1965Haskell, B. (2003). "Avery, Milton". Grove Art Online.) was an American modern painter. Born in Altmar, New York, he moved to Connecticut in 1898 and later to New York City. He was the husband ...

Raphael Soyer Raphael Zalman Soyer (December 25, 1899 – November 4, 1987) was a Russian-born American painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Soyer was referred to as an American scene painter. He is identified as a Social Realist because of his interest in men ...

Moses Soyer Moses Soyer (December 25, 1899 – September 3, 1974) was an American social realist painter. Biography He was born as Moses Schoar and both he and his identical twin brother, Raphael, were born in Borisoglebsk, Tambov, a southern province of R ...

Isaac Soyer Isaac Soyer (April 26, 1902 – July 8, 1981) was a Russian-born American social realist painter and educator. His art work often portrayed working-class people of New York City in his paintings. Biography He was born as Isaac Schoar on April 26, ...

William Gropper William Gropper (December 3, 1897January 3, 1977) was a U.S. cartoonist, painter, lithographer, and muralist. A committed radical, Gropper is best known for the political work which he contributed to such left wing publications as '' The Rev ...

David Burliuk David Davidovich Burliuk (Давид Давидович Бурлюк; 21 July 1882 – 15 January 1967) was a Russian-language poet, artist and publicist associated with the Futurist and Neo-Primitivist movements. Burliuk has been described as ...

, and

Philip Evergood Philip Howard Francis Dixon Evergood (born Howard Blashki; 1901–1973) was an American painter, etcher, lithographer, sculptor, illustrator and writer. He was particularly active during the Depression and World War II era. Life Philip Evergoo ...

. In 1935, he was part of a group exhibition at the Gallery Secession alongside

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Lat ...

, Gottlieb, and the other artist members of "The Ten". He taught at the Art Students League of New York. Additionally he taught painting at his own art school in

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

, New York; and taught at the Marxist-focused John Reed Club School. His notable art students include

Fritzie Abadi Fritzie Abadi (1915 – 2001) was an American painter, sculptor, and collage artist. Born in Aleppo, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. Biography The daughter of a rabbi, Abadi lived in Palestine until she was nine years old. She th ...

James F. Walker James F. Walker (October 8, 1913 – February 5, 1994) was an American graphic artist, twice named to the 100 Best New Talent List by ''Art in America''. Walker was particularly noted for his mixed media surrealist images, which he called " magic ...

, and his future wife Irene Zevon. In 1982, Southampton College Press published his illustrated poetry book, ''Machinery of Fright.''

Death and legacy

He died in February 1984 at New York University Hospital. He is buried in

New Montefiore Cemetery New Montefiore Cemetery is a Judaism, Jewish cemetery located in West Babylon, New York. History Montefiore Cemetery Corporation had been maintaining Montefiore Cemetery in Springfield Gardens, Queens since 1908. The corporation bought 250 acres ...

. It was estimated he had made some 7,000+ paintings and prints. His work is included in museum collections including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, the Brooklyn Museum, the

Jewish Museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. List of Jewish museums Notable Jewish museums include: *Albania ** Solomon Museum, Berat *Australia ** Jewish Mu ...

, and the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

. In 2013, he had a posthumous solo exhibition curated by Marina Kovalyov at the National Arts Club, as part of the 11th Annual Russian Heritage Month.

Personal life

Tschacbasov was a member of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

. His second wife was Esther Sorokin, who died in 1961; his third wife was painter and his former student, Irene Zevon. He had two children. His daughter was Alexandra (or Sasha, Sondra), she was the second wife of writer

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only w ...

s; together they had son Adam Bellow. Bellows book ''

Herzog ''Herzog'' (female ''Herzogin'') is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to by the ducal title. ...

'' (1964) was influenced by his divorce to Alexandra. According to Alexandra in 2011, her father sexually abused her starting around age 11.

Publications

References

External links

* , which shows photos * Audio
Nahum Tschacbasov
published by The New York Public Radio (NYPR) Archive Collections
Nahum Tschacbasov slides, 1936–1963
at

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

, Smithsonian Institution {{DEFAULTSORT:Tschacbasov, Nahum 1899 births 1984 deaths Artists from Baku American people of Russian-Jewish descent Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Artists from New York City Poets from New York (state) Art Students League of New York faculty American people of Georgian-Jewish descent American communists