Jack Levine (January 3, 1915November 8, 2010) was an American
Social Realist
Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...
painter
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
and
printmaker
Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...
best known for his
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
s on modern life, political
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
, and
biblical
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
narratives. Levine is considered one of the key artists of the
Boston Expressionist movement.
Early life and education
Jack Levine was the eighth child born to Samuel and Mary Levine,
Lithuanian Jewish
{{Infobox ethnic group
, group = Litvaks
, image =
, caption =
, poptime =
, region1 = {{flag, Lithuania
, pop1 = 2,800
, region2 =
{{flag, South Africa
, pop2 = 6 ...
immigrants. He grew up in the
South End of Boston, where he observed a street life composed of
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an
immigrants
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
and a prevalence of poverty and societal ills, subjects which would inform his work. His mother encouraged him to draw and stored his art materials in the family kitchen.
On visits to his father's shoe store, he was given brown wrapping paper on which he would draw. Subjects of his childhood drawings included mature subjects such as National Guardsmen patrolling the streets in military attire during the Boston Police strike of
1919
Events
January
* January 1
** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia.
** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...
.
Levine's first formal artistic education was studying with artist and art educator Harold K. Zimmerman at the Jewish Welfare Center in
Roxbury from 1924 to 1931. Another one of Zimmerman's young art students was
Hyman Bloom. From 1929 to 1933, Levine and Bloom studied with
Denman Ross at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. As an adolescent, Levine was already, by his own account, "a formidable draftsman". Ross sponsored Bloom and Levine's studies via a weekly stipend, as well as studio space.
Career
In 1932, Ross included Levine's drawings in an exhibition at the
Fogg Art Museum at Harvard, and three years later bequeathed twenty drawings by Levine to the museum's collection.
[Frankel, page 16.] Levine's early work was most influenced by Bloom,
Chaïm Soutine,
Georges Rouault, and
Oskar Kokoschka
Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright and teacher, best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the Viennese Expre ...
.
[Frankel, page 23.] Along with Bloom and
Karl Zerbe, he became associated with the style known as
Boston Expressionism
Boston Expressionism is an art movement marked by emotional directness, dark humor, social and spiritual themes, and a tendency toward figuration strong enough that Boston Figurative Expressionism is sometimes used as an alternate term to distin ...
.
From 1935 to 1940, he was employed by the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
. In 1936, Levine had his first exhibition of paintings 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 ...
in ''New Horizons in American Art'' at the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
. The paintings selected for the exhibition were ''Card Game'' and ''Brain Trust'', the latter was painted from his observation of life in the
Boston Common.
In 1937, his ''The Feast of Pure Reason'', a satire of Boston political power, was placed on loan to the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
. In the same year ''String Quartet'' was shown at 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 ...
, and purchased in 1942 by 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 death of his father in 1939 prompted a series of paintings of Jewish
sages.
From 1942-45, Levine served in the United States Army during World War II. Upon his discharge from service he painted
Welcome Home' (1946), a lampoon of the arrogance of military power. In 1959, the painting would engender political controversy when it was included in the ''
American National Exhibition'' in Moscow, raising suspicions in the
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...
of pro-
Communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
sympathies. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
called the painting "more lampoon than art."
Levine was awarded a
John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1945. With a
Fulbright grant he traveled to Europe in 1951, and was affected by the work of the
s, particularly the
Mannerism
Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...
of
El Greco
Doménikos Theotokópoulos (, ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco (; "The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance, regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. ...
,
which inspired him to distort and exaggerate the forms of his figures for expressive purposes.
After returning to the United States, Levine continued to paint biblical subjects, and also produced ''Gangster Funeral'', a narrative which Levine referred to as a "comedy". Further commentary on American life was furnished by ''Election Night'' (1954), ''Inauguration'' (1958), and ''Thirty- Five Minutes from Times Square'' (1956). Also in the late 1950s, Levine painted a series of sensitive portraits of his wife and daughter. In the 1960s, he responded not only to social unrest in the United States with works such as ''Birmingham '63'' (1963), but to international subjects as well, as in ''The Spanish Prison'' (1959–1962), ''Panethnikon'' (1978), and ''The Arms Brokers'' (1982–83). Levine once said of himself, "I am primarily concerned with the condition of man." Following his own direction, he created a distinct body of socially conscious art that probes the strengths and weaknesses of humanity.
In 1979 Levine was elected into 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 ...
as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1982. Following the death of his wife in 1982, he developed an increased interest in
Hebraism, and with it a proliferation of paintings with themes from the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
. '' Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
, the
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), 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
National Museum of American Art, the
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed ...
, the
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
, the
Phillips Collection
The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips (art collector), Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the ...
, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Fogg Art Museum, and the
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
. In 1973 the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Geography
* Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy
* Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City
* Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome
* Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
purchased ''Cain and Abel'' (1961), to the satisfaction of
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...
.
In 1978, a retrospective of Levine's work was held at the
Jewish Museum (New York)
The Jewish Museum is an art museum housed at 1109 Fifth Avenue, in the Felix M. Warburg House, along the Museum Mile on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The museum holds a collection of approximately 30,000 objects, including ...
. He was the subject of a 1989 film documentary entitled ''Feast of Pure Reason''.
In 2005, at the age of 90, Levine was given a mini-retrospective exhibition at DC Moore Gallery in New York City.
Personal life and death
In 1946, he married the painter
Ruth Gikow and moved to New York City. They had one daughter, Susanna who also became an artist.
Levine died at his home in Manhattan, New York on November 8, 2010, at the age of 95.
Notice of death of Jack Levine
Associated Press, November 9, 2010.
References
Further reading
*Baskind, Samantha
“Finding Jack Levine.”
Jewish Book Council, New York. Visiting Scribe Series (2014).
*Baskind, Samantha, ''Jewish Artists and the Bible in Twentieth-Century America'', Philadelphia, PA, Penn State University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-271-05983-9
*Baskind, Samantha, “Midrash and the Jewish American Experience in Jack Levine's ''Planning Solomon's Temple'',” ''Ars Judaica'' 3 (2007): 73-90.
*Frankel, Robert Stephen, ''Jack Levine''. Rizzoli, 1989.
*Jack Levine: Commitment and Ambivalence, Paintings and Prints, 1998 (exhibition catalogue), DC Moore Gallery, 1998
*Bookbinder, Judith, ''Boston Modern: Figurative Expressionism as Alternative Modernism''. University of New Hampshire Press, 2005
*Jack Levine: Jack Levine at 90, 2005 (exhibition catalogue), DC Moore Gallery, 2005
External links
JackLevine.net
The Most Comprehensive Online Collection of the Life and Works Of Jack Levine.
Works by Jack Levine at the Hirshhorn Museum
Works by Jack Levine at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
at the Archives of American Art
Interview with Jack Levine, by Joseph Podlesnik, in ''Q: A Journal of Art'', Cornell University, May 1991
Jack Levine
at The Jewish Museum (New York)
The Jewish Museum is an art museum housed at 1109 Fifth Avenue, in the Felix M. Warburg House, along the Museum Mile on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The museum holds a collection of approximately 30,000 objects, including ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Jack
1915 births
2010 deaths
20th-century American painters
American male painters
American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
21st-century American painters
21st-century American male artists
Colby College alumni
Jewish American painters
Harvard University alumni
American social realist artists
Artists from New York (state)
Painters from Boston
United States Army soldiers
Federal Art Project artists
People from South End, Boston
20th-century American printmakers
Boston expressionism
Presidents of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
21st-century American Jews
20th-century American male artists