Harvey Dinnerstein (April 3, 1928 – June 21, 2022) was an American figurative artist and educator. A

draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman, drafting technician, or CAD technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawi ...

and painter in the realistic tradition, his work included

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

paintings, contemporary narratives, complex figurative compositions,

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

, and intimate images of his family and friends.

Early life and education

Dinnerstein was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. His father, Louis, was a pharmacist and his mother, Sarah (Kobilansky) a homemaker. At 14 he entered the

High School of Music & Art The High School of Music & Art, informally known as Music & Art (or M&A), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High S ...

. He studied with

Moses Soyer Moses Soyer (December 25, 1899 – September 2, 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 ...

Yasuo Kuniyoshi was a Japanese-American painter, photographer and printmaker. Early life Kuniyoshi was born on September 1, 1889, in Okayama, Japan. He immigrated to the United States in 1906 at 17, choosing not to attend military school in Japan. Kuniyoshi ...

, and

Julian E. Levi Julian Edwin Levi (1900–1982) was an American painter. He was a 1968 Resident of the American Academy in Rome. He should not be confused with the New York art dealer Julien Levy, who introduced Salvador Dalí to American patrons at his Julien ...

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 ...

. From 1947 to graduation in 1950, Dinnerstein studied at the

Tyler School of Art The Tyler School of Art and Architecture is part of Temple University, a large, urban, public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Tyler currently enrolls about 1,350 undergraduate students and about 200 graduate st ...

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He was drafted into the Army and served at

Fort Monmouth Fort Monmouth is a former installation of the Department of the Army in Monmouth County, New Jersey and the site of a major upcoming Netflix film production campus, alongside a variety of other redevelopment. The site is surrounded by the commun ...

, New Jersey. Upon his return to

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 ...

in the early 1950s, he was one of a group of recent Tyler graduates who resisted the prevailing style of

Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

in order to paint in a figurative mode.

Career

In 1955, Dinnerstein made his solo debut in New York with an exhibition at the Davis Galleries in Manhattan. A ''New York Times'' reviewer likened his “deft and subtle figure drawings” to works by

Édouard Vuillard Jean-Édouard Vuillard (; 11 November 186821 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist, and printmaker. From 1891 through 1900, Vuillard was a member of the avant garde artistic group Les Nabis, creating paintings that assembled areas ...

. In 1955, he had made his solo debut in New York with an exhibition at the Davis Galleries in Manhattan. A New York Times reviewer likened his “deft and subtle figure drawings” to works by French artist Édouard Vuillard. Inspired by the

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

, bus boycott of 1956, Dinnerstein traveled south to document the

Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

upheaval through a series of drawings. This interest in cultural and moral issues continued to inform drawings and paintings that recorded the social unrest of the 1960s. ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' magazine sent him to Washington in 1968 to document the Poor People’s Campaign. From 1965 to 1980 Dinnerstein taught at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

in New York City, and from 1975 to 1992 at 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, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

, of which he was elected a member in 1974. He taught at the Art Students League from 1980 to 2020. He received an Honorary Doctorate from the

Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts The Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is an art school in Old Lyme, Connecticut. History The Lyme Academy was founded in 1976 by Elisabeth Gordon Chandler as a figurative academy for the teaching of sculpture, figure drawing, Illustration and painting ...

Old Lyme Old Lyme is a coastal town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, bounded on the west by the Connecticut River, on the south by the Long Island Sound, on the east by the town of East Lyme, and on the north by the town of Lyme. The town ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, in 1998. Dinnerstein participated in numerous exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. His work is in the permanent collections of the

Butler Institute of American Art The Butler Institute of American Art (BIAA), located on Wick Avenue in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, was the first museum dedicated exclusively to American art. Established by local industrialist and philanthropist Joseph G. Butler, Jr., the ...

, the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

, National Academy of Design,

National Museum of American Art The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

, and the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

. His book ''Harvey Dinnerstein: An Artist at Work'' was published in 1978 by

Watson-Guptill Watson-Guptill is an American publisher of instructional books in the arts. History The company was founded in 1937 by Ernest William Watson, Ralph Reinhold, and Arthur L. Guptill. They also published the magazine ''American Artist''. Their head ...

Personal life

Dinnerstein was the husband of Lois (Behrke) Dinnerstein, an art historian; the older brother of figurative artist Simon Dinnerstein, and the uncle of concert pianist

Simone Dinnerstein Simone Andrea Dinnerstein () (born September 18, 1972) is an American classical pianist. Education Dinnerstein was born in New York, United States to a Jewish family. She is the daughter of Renee and Simon Dinnerstein. She studied in the pre-co ...

. He died at a hospital in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

from complications of a fall on June 21, 2022, at the age of 94.

References

Sources

Biography at Hofstra Museum web site
*''Underground Together: The Art and Life of Harvey Dinnerstein'' - Chronicle Books, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dinnerstein, Harvey 1928 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists American art educators Art Students League of New York faculty Art Students League of New York alumni Grammy Award winners The High School of Music & Art alumni Painters from Brooklyn National Academy of Design faculty Temple University Tyler School of Art alumni 20th-century American male artists