Michael Loew (May 8, 1907 — November 14, 1985) was an American

Abstract Expressionist Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of th ...

artist who was born in New York City.

Career

In the late 1920s, Loew studied at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stud ...

with the

Ashcan School The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, was an artistic movement in the United States during the late 19th-early 20th century that produced works portraying scenes of daily life in New York, often in the city's poorer neighborhoods. ...

and was a recipient of a Sadie A. May Fellowship which allowed Loew to continue his studies in France. Michael worked for New Deal art projects from 1933–37 and during this time painted murals for U.S. post offices, high schools and the Hall of Pharmacy for the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Pur ...

. Loew chose to share his private commission with close friend and fellow artist,

Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning (; ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. He was born in Rotterdam and moved to the United States in 1926, becoming an American citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married painter ...

. From 1939 to 1940 Loew traveled to Mexico and the Yucatán, gathering inspiration for his future work. Joining the U.S. Navy Seabees in 1943 as a Battalion Painter, Loew documented the work being done on the airbase on

Tinian Island Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the ...

. It was from this airbase that the

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it be ...

would later take off from to drop the atomic bombs. Loew captured much of the work done on the island by the Navy in dozens of watercolors. Returning to New York after the war, having lost much of his hearing, Loew started over with his art studies. He studied with

Hans Hofmann Hans Hofmann (March 21, 1880 – February 17, 1966) was a German-born American painter, renowned as both an artist and teacher. His career spanned two generations and two continents, and is considered to have both preceded and influenced Abstrac ...

in New York and Provincetown, and with

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually modified into a more figurative, po ...

in Paris. Loew became a member of the

American Abstract Artists American Abstract Artists (AAA) was formed in 1936 in New York City, to promote and foster public understanding of abstract art. American Abstract Artists exhibitions, publications, and lectures helped to establish the organization as a major fo ...

and The Artist's Club as well as The Spiral Group. His works were shown at the

Stable Gallery The Stable Gallery, originally located on West 58th Street in New York City, was founded in 1953 by Eleanor Ward. The Stable Gallery hosted early solo New York exhibitions for artists including Marisol Escobar, Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol. Hi ...

Annuals of 1951–1955. In 1960 and again in 1966, Loew was hired to teach at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He also spent nearly three decades as a teacher 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 ...

. In 1976 he won a fellowship grant from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federa ...

and in 1979 he was awarded a grant from the Guggenheim Foundation. Over the course of his life, Michael's work was exhibited extensively in galleries, museums and other cultural institutions including: The

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

, The

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Art ...

, The

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

, The

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin F ...

and The

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was desi ...

. The Michael Loew Papers are located 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 and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. His works have been exhibited in galleries including the

Anita Shapolsky Gallery The Anita Shapolsky Gallery is an art gallery that was founded in 1982 by Anita Shapolsky. It is currently located at 152 East 65th Street, on Manhattan's Upper East Side, in New York City. The gallery specializes in 1950s and 1960s abstract e ...

in New York City and the Thomas McCormick Gallery. In 1997 his estate was awarded the Judith Rothschild Foundation Grant.

Teaching positions

*1958–1985

, New York City *1960, 1966

Awards and fellowships

*1964

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the dea ...

Purchase *1976

Fellowship Grant *1979

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowships to professionals who have demonstrated exceptional ...

Fellowship *1997 Judith Rothschild Grant

Collections

*Whitney Museum of American Art *Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum *Gallatin Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art *Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden *Carnegie Institute Museum of Art *Albright Knox Art Gallery *University of California, Berkeley *Portland Museum of Art *Dallas Museum of Fine Arts *Detroit Museum of Art *Wichita State University *Farnsworth Museum *Hampton University *Israel Museum *Monhegan Island Museum

References

Sources

*American Abstract Artists (1957). "The World of Abstract Art", pp. 167 *Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560 *Baur, J. (1974). Whitney Museum of American Art, Catalogue of the Collection, pp. 235 *Campbell, L. (1984). "Michael Loew at Marilyn Pearl Gallery", ''Art in America'', pp. 193 *Curtis, J., Lieberman F. (1995). "Monhegan The Artists' Island" *Falk, Peter Hastings, (1999) Who Was Who in American Art, 1564–1975, 3 Volumes, pp. 3724 *Gordon, J. (1962). "Geometric Abstraction in America", pp. 68 *Herskovic M. (2000). New York School Abstract Expressionists Artists Choice by Artists, (New York School Press, 2000.) *Kingsley, A. (1973). "New York Letter", ''Art International, Apr. 1973'', pp. 52–53 *Kingsley, A. (2008)

"Michael Loew 1907–1985: The Beginning Works from the Estate" (Chicago and New York: Mc Cormick Gallery/ Vincent Vallarino Fine Art, 2008) *Larsen, S. C. (1979). "A Painter's Geometry: The Art of Michael Loew", ''Arts Magazine'', pp. 130–134 *Larsen, Susan C (1997) "Michael Loew: Nature into Abstraction", The Farnsworth Art Museum *Slivka, Rose C.S. (1989). "Willem de Kooning", ''Art Journal 48 no. 3, Fall '89'', pp. 219–221 *Stevens, M., Swan, A. (2006). "De Kooning an American Master" *Stuart P. (1949). "Abstract Quartet", New York Times, November 27, 1949

External links

biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loew, Michael 1907 births 1985 deaths Modern painters Painters from New York City 20th-century American painters American male painters Abstract expressionist artists Art Students League of New York alumni American war artists American muralists Federal Art Project artists National Endowment for the Arts Fellows School of Visual Arts faculty University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty Section of Painting and Sculpture artists 20th-century American male artists