Rifka Angel (1899–1988) was a Russian-American artist, one of the first encaustic painters in 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 ...

. Angel is known for her use of color and naïve style.

Life

Born to Jewish parents in Kalvarija,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

), Rifka Angel (née Angelovitch) came to the United States in 1914 to join her father, a recent immigrant. Angel's first husband, an art student, introduced her to

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 ...

, Ernest Fiene, Emil Ganso, and

Alfred Maurer Alfred Maurer may refer to: * Alfred Henry Maurer (1868–1932), American modernist painter * Alfred Maurer (politician) Alfred Maurer (2 December 1888 Tallinn - 20 September 1954 Stockholm) was an Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of ...

. Ganso suggested that she try to paint watercolors. Angel showed some of her works to Sloan and the latter helped to exhibit her watercolors. Rifka Angel studied briefly 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 ...

with

Boardman Robinson Boardman "Mike" Michael Robinson (1876–1952) was a Canadian-born American painter, illustrator and cartoonist. Biography Early years Boardman Robinson was born September 6, 1876, in Nova Scotia. He spent his childhood in England and Canada, ...

and later in Vkhutemas (

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

) with

David Shterenberg David Petrovich Shterenberg (; Zhitomir – May 1, 1948 Moscow) was a Ukrainian-born Russian Soviet painter and graphic artist. Life Born to a Jewish family in Zhitomir, Ukraine, Shterenberg studied art in Odessa and then from 1906 to 1912 bas ...

. After her return to the United States, Angel married her second husband and moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1929, where their daughter, Blossom Margaret, was born in 1930. The artist began to exhibit regularly: one-person shows in 1930 and 1931 at the Knoedler Gallery, Chicago and participation in numerous group shows in other locations. In 1934, her painting was selected to represent Chicago in the

MoMA 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 ...

's "Painting and Sculpture from 16 American Cities" exhibition. In the mid-late 1930s, Angel lived in New York; 1936–1939 she participated in the Federal Art Project. 1940–1946 the artist spent in Hawaii and the Midwest. Since 1946 and until her last days Angel lived and worked in New York.

References

*Aber, Ita. "Rifka Angel." Woman's Art Journal 7, no. 2 (Fall 1986/Winter 1987): 32–35. *Frumess, Richard. "Rifka Angel, 1899–1988: An Encaustic Pioneer." Exh. cat. Kingston, NY: R & F Handmade Paints, 2005.

External links

Gail Stavitsky, Ph.D., Chief Curator, Montclair Art Museum, "Waxing Poetic: Encaustic Art in America during the Twentieth Century."Susan Weininger, "Rifka Angel," Chicago Modern"Rifka Angel," ''Illinois Women Artists Project'', Bradley UniversityRifka Angel, Collections, The Art Institute of ChicagoRifka Angel: Ask Art profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angel, Rifka 1899 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American painters Artists from Chicago Painters from New York City American people of Russian-Jewish descent Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States People from Kalvarija, Lithuania 20th-century American women painters American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Jewish American painters Jewish women painters 20th-century American Jews