Irving Fierstein
| Irving Fierstein | |
|---|---|
Irving Fierstein, 1970
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| Born |
11 January 1915 New York City, United States |
| Died | 25 May 2009 (aged 94) New York City, United States, United States |
| Known for | Painting, printmaking |
| Movement | Cubism, Impressionism |
Irving Fierstein (January 11, 1915 - May 25, 2009) Brooklyn-born artist whose work spanned over half a century was the son of Romanian and Polish Jewish immigrant parents and raised on New York City’s lower east side. In his lifetime Fierstein created a prolific body of fine artworks including oils, acrylics, lithographs, etchings and mixed medium reflecting impressionist, cubist, and expressionist schools, many dedicated to themes about social justice.
Fierstein began his studies of art and architecture at the Hebrew Technical Institute (New York City) from which he graduated in 1932. He also studied at the National Academy of Design where he was awarded the top medal in 1937, and later at Cooper Union where he also learned commercial art and lettering.
One of his earliest projects was working with painter Rockwell Kent in 1938 on a Times Square (New York City) billboard in support of the Spanish Civil War freedom fighters against fascism. His 1969 oil on canvas depicting the 1963 beating of African-American civil rights activist Fanny Lou Hamer in a Winona, Mississippi jail was presented to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Social Change in Atlanta in 1977. Fierstein had been deeply moved by the treatment of Hamer by the segregationist authorities and was inspired to undertake the painting while studying at the Art Students League with impressionist portrait painter Sidney Dickinson (1890 - 1980). This painting was featured in his first one-artist show at the Lynn Kottler Galleries in New York City in December 1970.
From early on in his life, Fierstein veered toward art and a non-conforming social consciousness and activism. As early as 1937 while working as an advertising artist for Hearn’s Department Store in New York City, he helped to organize the Commercial Artists and Designers Union. After his marriage to Hannah Tompkins (artist) in 1940, the two worked to organize a Greenwich Village (NYC) branch of the American Labor Party.
During World War II Fierstein was a sergeant in the Army Air Corps during which he worked maintenance and instruction on the mechanical and electrical systems of the Boeing B-29 heavy bombardment airplanes. He was awarded the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal (United States).
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