365:, had gathered to express their fears "that the Institute would ... become a showcase for ... something quite different that what we thought it ought to show and support," Polonsky said. Zerbe's experience with Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, which only "owned one watercolor, and at a time when his work was being acquired quite seriously, with pleasure, by some of the other institutions, stoked those fears. The meetings jumpstarted the formation of the New England Chapter for Artist's Equity.
380:"It seemed like a good, exuberant, democratic, freeing kind of idea to many of us," Polonsky said. "It was very hearty, the sensations among the artists of Boston in those festivals of the first years, certainly, and the public. And much was accomplished. People like Robert Frost and MacLeish had taken it all very seriously. Productions in opera, along with that fragile tent city of exhibitions went up each year.
31:
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says of his work. His drawings, in particular, "have the excitement of a direct response to a subject, a daring use of line or tone, a sense of charged intensity. His portrait drawings not only have likeness but express a mood that is part artist, part model.
181:. This community organizing led not only to new arts organizations, but also a more tightly organized community of artists. The exchange of ideas and influences that resulted developed a figurative style of Expressionism specific to New England.
427:
Arthur died peacefully of natural causes on April 4, 2019, in Newton, Massachusetts. He was married from 1953 to 1982 to artist Lois Tarlow (August 30, 1928 – January 4, 2021). He is survived by their three sons Eli, D.L., and
Gabriel.
558:
All of the information in "Early
Expressionist Meetings" is based on the "Oral history interview with Arthur Polonsky, 1972 Apr. 12-May 21," conducted by Robert Brown for the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art. (See also Endnote
377:. The original Festivals, in the 1950s and 1960s, displayed fine art in tents in the Public Garden, and provided free performances in nearby Boston Common. This represented a major change in how art was presented in New England.
414:
He had a close connection with the Newton
Symphony Orchestra (NSO), having created three original works for the NSO’s program, "Art for Music," and was featured on the NSO season brochures in 1981, 1983 and 1994.
173:, began meeting to address fears that major Boston museums were shutting out contemporary artists. The meetings inspired more activism, including the formation of the New England Chapter of Artists Equity and the
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and educator, known for his explorations of light, water, flight and similarly lyrical motifs that, in esoteric and unsettling ways, alluded to myth, fantasy, music, the Bible, or the poetry of
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157:, an important witness. The roots of the movement link to two separate, but overlapping, circles of mid-Century artists, and Polonsky was involved with both. The first was allied to Boston's
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at the Museum School’s
Tanglewood Program in the Berkshires. He subsequently traveled to France when awarded the Museum School’s European Traveling Fellowship upon graduation.
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The activist artists, all connected to the Museum School or the Boris Mirski
Gallery, had become a loose art club of sorts; in that capacity, they also helped organize the
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Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1925, Polonsky was one of two children of Jewish
Russian immigrants Benjamin and Celia (Hurwitz) Polonsky.
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where
Polonsky exhibited. Artists within these circles started interacting more, in the late 1940s, when many of them, including Polonsky,
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Here is a tribute to Arthur
Polonsky written by Charles Giuliano from the April 7, 2019 edition of Berkshire Fine Arts:
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in the Fine Arts
Department, where he remained until 1965. From 1965 to 1990, Polonsky served as associate professor at
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From 1950 to 1960, he taught painting at the Boston Museum School. In 1954, he became assistant professor at
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After returning from Europe in the late 1940s, Polonsky began attending meetings to protest Boston's
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City of Boston
Archives and Records Management Division: Guide to the Boston Arts Festival records
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where Polonsky, a Museum School graduate, later taught. The second was allied to Boston's
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which is currently in production by his son, Emmy-nominated director Gabriel Polonsky.
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141:. "The dialogue between color, texture and subject is always alive" the late artist
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https://berkshirefinearts.com/04-07-2019_artist-arthur-polonsky-at-93.htm
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European Traveling Fellow, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, 1948–1950
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403:, College of Fine Arts, from which he had become professor emeritus.
589:"Local artist still creating: a conversation with Arthur Polonsky"
483:"Oral history interview with Arthur Polonsky, 1972 Apr. 12-May 21"
361:, then known as the Institute of Modern Art. Bloom, Zerbe, Shahn,
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and, in a lengthy oral history interview for the Smithsonian's
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In the summer of 1947, Polonsky was a teaching assistant to
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Art Times: A Literary Journal and Resource for All the Arts
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Arthur is the subject of a documentary feature film called
521:"Guide to the Boston Arts Festival Records: A Finding Aid"
121:(June 6, 1925 – April 4, 2019) was a figurative painter,
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680:School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts faculty
675:School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni
339:American Association of University Professors
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226:Mickelson Gallery, Washington, DC 1966, 1974
190:Boris Mirski Gallery, 1950, 1954, 1956, 1964
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690:Archives of American Art-related articles
502:"Artists Equity Association: A Look Back"
570:"Arthur Polonsky | College of Fine Arts"
343:Member, Artists Equity Association, Inc.
574:Boston University, College of Fine Arts
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149:Polonsky was also a key participant in
331:1st prize, Boston Arts Festival, 1954
88:The School of the Museum of Fine Arts
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587:Shvorin, Vladimir (April 25, 2008).
500:Steiner, Raymond J. (Sep 23, 2018).
487:Smithsonian Archives of American Art
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257:DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
459:Kantar Fine Arts - Arthur Polonsky
217:Kantar Fine Arts, Newton, MA, 2002
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250:Brockton Art Museum, Brockton, MA
159:School of the Museum of Fine Arts
593:The Jewish Advocate (Boston, MA)
519:Bitely, Jessica (Sep 23, 2018).
685:American Expressionist painters
665:People from Lynn, Massachusetts
246:Addison Gallery of American Art
640:21st-century American painters
630:20th-century American painters
481:Brown, Robert (Sep 23, 2018).
199:, 1969, 1990, 1993, 1996, 1999
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359:Institute of Contemporary Art
348:Early Expressionist Meetings
235:Starr Gallery, Boston, 1987,
208:Durlacher Gallery, NYC, 1965
193:Boston Center for Arts, 1983
655:Brandeis University faculty
298:The New York Public Library
284:Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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232:Gallery, Boston, 2004–2005
221:Metropolitan Museum of Art
650:Boston University faculty
645:21st-century male artists
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328:award for painting, 1951
155:Archives of American Art
96:Paintings & Drawings
670:Jewish American artists
280:The Library of Congress
635:American male painters
319:Honors and memberships
542:"Harvard Art Museums"
375:Boston Arts Festivals
326:Louis Comfort Tiffany
276:Boston Public Library
272:Honolulu Academy Arts
197:Boston Public Library
70:Newton, Massachusetts
695:Boston expressionism
660:Painters from Boston
369:Boston Arts Festival
212:Fitchburg Art Museum
175:Boston Arts Festival
163:Boris Mirski Gallery
151:Boston Expressionism
112:Boston Expressionism
104:Boston Expressionism
546:Harvard Art Museums
421:Release from Reason
397:Brandeis University
52:Lynn, Massachusetts
353:"Protest Meetings"
240:Public collections
455:"Arthur Polonsky"
401:Boston University
303:Walker Art Center
143:Barbara Swan Fink
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308:The White House
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119:Arthur Polonsky
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62:April 4, 2019
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596:. Retrieved
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253:Danforth Art
203:Danforth Art
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64:(2019-04-04)
48:June 6, 1925
625:2019 deaths
620:1925 births
363:Jack Levine
324:Recipient,
262:Fogg Museum
223:, NYC, 1950
171:Hyman Bloom
133:poets like
123:draughtsman
77:Nationality
614:Categories
598:October 2,
438:References
167:Karl Zerbe
44:1925-06-06
390:Ben Shahn
131:Modernist
127:Symbolist
85:Education
337:Member,
109:Movement
80:American
135:Rimbaud
214:, 1990
205:, 2008
524:(PDF)
139:Rilke
101:Style
600:2009
169:and
137:and
129:and
59:Died
38:Born
559:2.)
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467:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
