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.
George Kanelous
Painting/Drawing
1915 – 1998
The WPA era mural in Norwich’s Main Post Office, ‘Taking Up Arms—1776,’ was painted in 1940 by George Kanelous.
- Biography/Description of Work
Kanelous was born in 1915 in Uruguay, of Greek parents, and came to the United States in 1918. He attended New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn, New York and won a scholarship sponsored by the Art Students League. Like his contemporary, WPA artist Milton Rockwell Bellin, Kanelous studied with Yasuo Kuniyoshi and worked under noted muralist James Daugherty. Kuniyoshi recommended Kanelous for a further scholarship to study under him. After graduation, George joined the WPA when he painted the mural in Norwich. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he had several one-man shows at the Phoenix Gallery in New York City. Although he worked for many years on his paintings, most will never be seen. Being a perfectionist he was seldom happy with his art, and would create a new painting on top of the previous one, so that there are few to show for his decades of work.
- Sources view
- Zoe, Vivian. Slater Museum Muse newsletter, Fall 2012.
- Associated Resource(s)