Leo Michelson

Lovis Corinth : portrait of the painter Leo Michelson , 1922

Leo Michelson ( Latvian Leo Mihelsons ; born May 12, 1887 in Riga , Latvia , † 1978 in New York , NY ) was a Latvian - American painter who is counted to the École de Paris , although his works span many periods and styles .

Life

Michelson first attended the Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg , then the University of Dorpat (now Tartu , Estonia). He made friends with Lovis Corinth in Berlin in 1911 , who also portrayed him. At his request, Leo Michelson accompanied Lovis Corinth on his art trip to Amsterdam in 1925 to see Rembrandt, Frans Hals and other painters highly admired by Corinth. On this trip Lovis Corinth fell seriously ill and then died on July 17, 1925 in a hotel in Zandvoort, Holland.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 forced Michelson to leave Russia . He went to Munich and Berlin , where he participated in the beginnings of German Expressionism . From 1920 Michelson lived in Paris and had already made a name for himself internationally with his paintings, prints and sculptures. As a well-known member of the Paris School, his works have been shown at exhibitions across Western Europe , the Soviet Union and the United States . After Paris fell to Nazi Germany in 1940 , Michelson went to New York and became an American citizen in 1945.

Michelson is described as an "eternal emigrant, eternal student" because he was always experimenting and trying new styles. Michelson actually carried crayons with him so he could draw anywhere. His friend Marc Chagall said he didn't know anyone who could handle colors better. Art historians have compared Michelson to both Chagall and Pablo Picasso ; however, he himself stated that it was mainly Titian who inspired him. Michelson made over 1,000 paintings, most of which have been in the Michelson Museum of Art in Marshall, Texas since 1985 .

literature

• Jean Bouret: Leo Michelson. Painter between dream and reality . Belser, Stuttgart 1963.

Web links

• Michelson Museum of Art