With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Harry Holtzman
Education/Curation, Painting/Drawing
1912 – 1987
Abstract painter and educator from 1930s on; significant for association with Piet Mondrian.
- Biography/Description of Work
Holtzman was an American artist and founding member of the American Abstract Artists group; he was active in New York City in the 1930s. He worked for the WPA in New York State. Holtzman searched out Mondrian in Paris and became a close friend, helped Mondrian emigrate to US, and became his heir and executor. Holtzman taught at Brooklyn College for 25 years. He purchased the Morgan barn in Lyme in 1962 and converted it to a home and studio.
- Sources view
- Connecticut artists database: http://www.lib.uconn.edu/libraries/art/connart/index.htm
Florence Griswold Museum web archive: http://flogris.org/archives/exhibition-note-hadlymes-grand-barn/
Historic Barns of Connecticut inventory item, http://connecticutbarns.org/index.cgi/154
Lansing, Amy Kurtz. Colman, Benjamin. Harry Holtzman and American Abstraction, Exhibit catalogue. Florence Griswold Museum, 2013. http://www.florencegriswoldmuseum.org/exhibitions_13Holtzman.php - Associated Resource(s)