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Samuel Halpert (1884 in
Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...
,
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– 1930 in
Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
) was an American painter.


Early days

Halpert's family migrated to New York City in 1890. His father's preoccupation with religious devotion necessitated that Halpert sell Jewish newspapers, books and candy after school to help support the family. At the Neighborhood Guild, later called
University Settlement House A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
, he met
Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American and British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1910. Early in his ...
, who gave him his first instruction in drawing. Halpert studied with Henry McBride at The Educational Alliance from around 1898 to 1902. Beginning in 1899, the young artist also attended 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 ...
for three years, and left for France in 1902.


Travel in Europe

Halpert spent his first year in Paris studying under Leon Bonnat at the . However, upon seeing the work of the Post-Impressionists he left the academy to study independently and to travel. Halpert painted numerous scenes of Paris, in a style reflecting the influence of
Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
, Cézanne, and the Fauves. Halpert exhibited from 1905 to 1911 at the '' Salon d'Automne'' and established strong friendships with the artists Patrick Henry Bruce, Sonia Delaunay and
Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (; 12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist of the School of Paris movement; who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism (art), Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and g ...
, Abel Warshawsky, Thomas Hart Benton,
Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...
and
Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
.


New York City and his first show

In 1912, Halpert returned to New York. He and
Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...
studied under
Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...
at the Ferrer Center and, in 1913, Halpert left to set up an artists' community in
Ridgefield, New Jersey } Ridgefield is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 11,501, an increase of 469 (+4.3%) from the 2010 Unite ...
. Other frequenters of the colony were the writer Alfred Kreymborg and the sculptor Adolf Wolff. The next year, his first one-man show was held at the Daniel Gallery. In 1915, Halpert returned to Europe and traveled to France, Spain, London and Portugal (
Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,533, in an area of 149.03 km2. The urbanized area of Vila do Conde, which includes the parishes of ...
) with the Delaunays, whose abstract work had little influence on him.


Career

Halpert returned to New York in 1916, and during the next two years exhibited in several People's Art Guild shows. Through the Guild, he met Edith Gregor Fiviosioovitch (Fein) they married in 1918. Halpert joined the Society of Independent Artists in 1917, later becoming a vice president and director. The following year, Halpert also began to exhibit at the Whitney Studio Club. After his marriage, the artist began to also paint nudes, domestic scenes and landscapes, and showed a renewed interest in naturalism. For summer 1925, the couple visited Paris The following year, Edith Halpert opened the Downtown Gallery with Bea Goldsmith, the sister of the couple's close friend Leon Kroll. The gallery represented Ben Shahn,
Charles Sheeler Charles Sheeler (July 16, 1883 – May 7, 1965) was an American artist known for his Precisionism, Precisionist paintings, commercial photographer, commercial photography, and the 1921 avant-garde film, ''Manhatta'', which he made in collaboratio ...
, Stuart Davis and other important American modernist artists. during the summers of 1926 and 1927, the Halpert's rented a farmhouse at Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine, an
artist colony Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, Art school, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typica ...
established by the critic and patron Hamilton Easter Field and frequented by Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Bernard Karfiol and Marguerite and William Zorach, among others. In fall 1927, Halpert separated from his wife and moved to Detroit to head the painting department at the School of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts. He died there three years later.Norman L Kleeblatt and Susan Chevlowe (eds), ''Painting a place in America. Jewish Artists: NY 1900-1945'', Jewish Museum NY Publishing Company with Indy Press 1991.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halpert, Samuel 1884 births 1930 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters People from Ridgefield, New Jersey Jews from the Russian Empire American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts National Academy of Design alumni Society of Independent Artists 20th-century American male artists