William Auerbach-Levy (February 14, 1889 – June 29, 1964) was a Belarusian born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

of Jewish origin known for his

painting 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 ...

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

s and

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

s.Biography, Luther College
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Life and career

Auerbach-Levy was Jewish, was born in

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

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 ...

(at that time

Brest-Litovsk Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...

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. ...

), and emigrated with his family to the United States in 1894. He studied in

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and

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 ...

, and subsequently taught at the Educational Alliance Art School and 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 1928 he was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

. He was elected into the

as an Associate member in 1926, and became a full member in 1958. Auerbach-Levy authored several books on the art of caricature, and his work in that vein, often featuring celebrities and theatrical personalities as his subjects, appeared in ''

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'', '' Vanity Fair'' and ''

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''. He was a member of the

Society of American Graphic Artists The Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA) is a not for profit national fine arts organization serving professional artists in the field of printmaking. SAGA provides its members with exhibition, reviews and networking opportunities in the Ne ...

. His wife, Florence Von Wien, who collaborated with him on one of his books, died in 1957. Auerbach-Levy died at the age of 75 on June 29, 1964, in

Ossining, New York Ossining may refer to: * Ossining (town), New York, a town in Westchester County, New York state *Ossining (village), New York, a village in the town of Ossining * Ossining High School, a comprehensive public high school in Ossining village * Ossi ...

. His works are in the collections of 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 ...

, the

Boston Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

, the

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, the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

, the

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...

and Luther College.

Publications

* Auerbach-Levy, William and Von Wien, Florence. ''Is That Me? A Book About Caricature''. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1947. * Auerbach-Levy, William. ''The Art of Caricature''. Art Book Guild of America, 1947.

References

External links

Cleveland Museum of Art

"Perfectly Simple", ''American Heritage''

Finding aid for the William Auerbach-Levy drawings at the Museum of the City of New YorkWilliam Auerbach-Levy, Artist and Neighborhood Preservationist
from th
Museum of the City of New York Collections blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Auerbach-Levy, William 1889 births 1964 deaths Belarusian Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent 20th-century American painters American male painters American caricaturists American etchers Jewish American artists 20th-century American printmakers 20th-century American male artists

Life and career

Publications

Further reading

References

External links