Axel Horn (born January 11, 1913 – March 5, 2001) was an American artist. His name is sometimes listed as "Axel Horr" as an erroneous reading of his signature on paintings; this error is reflected in the Archives of American Art, leading to confusion over his surname.
Life
He was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. He studied at the Newark School of Fine and Applied Arts in 1930, and from 1931 to 1934 at the
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists.
Although artists may study f ...
. His instructors included
Thomas Hart Benton and
John Sloan
John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight (Ashcan School), T ...
; his classmates included
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...
and
Will Barnet
Will Barnet (May 25, 1911November 13, 2012) was an American visual artist and teacher, known for his paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints depicting the human figure and animals, both in casual scenes of daily life and in transcendent d ...
. In 1935, he was a member of the Siqueiros Mural Workshop, led by the Mexican muralist
David Alfaro Siquieros
David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...
.
As a member of the
Federal Art Project
The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...
, and he
painted murals at the
New York City Farm Colony
The New York City Farm Colony was a poorhouse on the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Staten Island, one of the city's five boroughs. It was located across Brielle Avenue from Seaview Hospital, on the edge of the Staten Island G ...
and
Seaview Hospital
Seaview Hospital is a historic hospital complex in Willowbrook on Staten Island, New York. The original complex was planned and built between 1905 and 1938 and was the largest and most costly municipal facility for the treatment of tuberculosis ...
,
Bellevue Hospital Center
Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...
,
Welfare Island Nurses Home,
Whitehall, New York Post Office,
and "Preparation for Lifework" in the
Yellow Springs, Ohio
Yellow Springs is a Village (Ohio), village in northern Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,697 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Dayton, Dayton metropolitan area and is home to Antioch ...
Post Office.
From the 1940s through the mid-1960s, Horn worked in commercial display design, including stints with The Displayers (1942–1947) and Fox and Horn, NYC. In the 1960s, his concern for environmental issues led him to work on environmental and educational study programs for various colleges, agencies, foundations, and private firms, including the New York Botanical Garden, City University of New York, the National Science Foundation, Xerox, and the United Nations.
From 1966 to 1968, he worked for the Community Science Center in
Ahmedabad, India
Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. ...
, as a consultant, planner, co-administrator, and designer of environmental and educational systems. From 1970 to 1976, he was an adjunct professor of design in the Art Department at the
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...
. From 1976 to 1982, he served as the Director of The Bronx River Restoration, a community development program in NYC. While in this position, he made a film with Larry Rosenblum titled ''Bronx River Restoration'' (Urbanimage, 1980).
From 1982 until his death, he continued to paint and write in his historic home, Shaker Hollow, in
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...
.
Children's books
*''Only Us! Only Us!'', Little Brown & Co., 1971
*''You Can Be Taller'' Little Brown & Co., 1974,
See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Westchester County, New York
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horn, Axel
20th-century American painters
American male painters
21st-century American painters
1913 births
Federal Art Project artists
2001 deaths
Art Students League of New York alumni
Painters from New York City
American muralists
20th-century American male artists