Ezra Augustus Winter (March 10, 1886 – April 6, 1949) was a prominent American muralist.

Biography

Winter was born in

Traverse City, Michigan Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, Michigan, Grand Traverse County, although it partly extends into Leelanau County, Michigan, Leelanau County. The city's population was 15, ...

, trained at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1908, and the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome, Italy. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History 19th century In 1893, a group of American architect ...

in 1914. Winter became extremely successful and commanded high prices for his work. In 1924 he taught at the Grand Central School of Art. Winter studied art at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and was a fellow in visual arts at the

in 1914. Among his best-known works are ''The Canterbury Tales'' in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

and ''Fountain of Youth'' in the foyer of

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

. He also completed murals for the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the University of Rochester and Eastman School of Music, and a six-story work for the Guardian Building in Detroit. During World War I Winter was a camouflage designer for the

U.S. Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was a corporation established as an emergency agency by the Merchant Marine Act of 1916 (Alexander Act), 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to ...

. He later taught at the Grand Central School of Art and kept a studio in Falls Village, Connecticut. Winter was associated with the National Society of Mural Painters and the

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construct ...

. He served on the Connecticut State Commission of Sculpture and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, from 1928 to 1933, and was a member of the

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqua ...

. His papers are in the

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 Washing ...

at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. While painting one of his murals, Ezra Winter took a step back, forgetting the extreme height at which he was at, and fell. He suffered from a broken and compacted tailbone. After this he was unable to paint because of an unsteady hand and pain because of the accident. Winter killed himself in 1949 with a shotgun near his Connecticut studio at the age of 63.

Works

His work includes: * ''Fountain of Youth'' mural at the

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

* the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park in

Vincennes, Indiana Vincennes is a city in, and the county seat of, Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the lower Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state, nearly halfway between Evansville and Terre Haute. It was founded in 1732 by F ...

* the Rochester Savings Bank in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

* wall murals James Monroe High School in

* trading floor murals for the New York Cotton Exchange, New York City, for architect

Donn Barber Donn Barber FAIA (October 19, 1871 – May 29, 1925) was an American architect. Biography Donn Barber was born on October 19, 1871, in Washington, D.C., the son of Charles Gibbs Barber and his wife, Georgiana Williams. Barber was a grandson o ...

, 1923 Cass Gilbert, Life and Work: Architect of the Public Domain, by Barbara S. Christen, Steven Flanders, page 225 * a spectacular six-story banking hall mural for the Guardian Building, and work for the Buhl Building, both in Detroit and both for architect Wirt C. Rowland * numerous murals at the Birmingham Public Library in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

and ''

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse (poetry), verse, as part of a fictional storytellin ...

'' murals,

John Adams Building The John Adams Building is the second-oldest of the buildings of the Library of Congress of the United States. Built in the 1930s, it is named for John Adams, the second president, who signed the law creating the Library of Congress in 1800. The ...

, Washington, D.C. * Murals in

Willard Straight Hall Willard Straight Hall is the student union building on the central campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is located on Campus Road, adjacent to the Ho Plaza and Cornell Health. History 19th century Willard Straight Hall's constru ...

lobby,

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, 1926. The murals depict representations of virtues including chivalry, adventure, diplomacy, creativity, and optimism.

George Rogers Clark National Historical Park

Winter did seven murals at the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park. File:George Rogers Clark Memorial - left murals.jpg, Murals to the left File:George Rogers Clark statue and murals.jpg, Statue and murals in the center File:George Rogers Clark Memorial - right murals.jpg, Murals to the right

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Ezra 1886 births 1949 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters American muralists People from Traverse City, Michigan Suicides by firearm in Connecticut Artists who died by suicide Artists from Michigan National Academy of Design members Olivet College alumni 1949 suicides 20th-century American male artists