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.
Alton Tobey
Illustration, Painting/Drawing
1914 – 2005
WPA artist and muralist. “The Stop of Hooker’s Bank in East Hartford before Crossing the River” was created for the East Hartford Post Office.
- Biography/Description of Work
Tobey earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine art from Yale University and taught there afterward. His murals are in several CT buildings, including a post office and library in East Hartford and the Camp Field Library in Hartford. A mural depicting the founding of Hartford is on display at the Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC. Beginning in 1957 Tobey illustrated a series of covers for Life magazine and later created 350 carefully researched realistic paintings for The Golden Books History of the United States. He was, however, also known for modernist work and founded the Curvilinear school of painting, based on Albert Einstein’s theories. Lived in Larchmont NY as an adult.
- Sources view
- http://www.wpamurals.com/category/connecticut , UConn artists database. http://www.altontobey.org/ Park, Marlene & Markowitz, Gerald E. Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal . Art is a Hammer. Shoeleather History of Hartford. [ http://homefront.homestead.com/artisahammer.html ] accessed 6/23/2015.
- Associated Resource(s)
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