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.
Ezra Winter
Painting/Drawing
1886 – 1949
A renowned muralist during the 1920s through 1940s, Winter had many prestigious commissions for the Library of Congress, Radio City Music Hall, US Supreme Court and others. He painted in a traditional style when many of his contemporaries were exploring modern modes of expression.
- Biography/Description of Work
Ezra Winter studied at the Chicago Institute of Fine Arts and the American Academy in Rome under a three-year fellowship awarded in 1911. After his fellowship ended, Winter and his family toured Europe while he became more enamored with ancient and traditional styles of art during a time when many were turning towards Modernist styles. Returning to the States before World War I, he became a camouflage designer for the United States Shipping Board. In the 1920s he returned to murals and received many prestigious commissions including for the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and the Guardian Building in Detroit. In 1930, Winter purchased property in Canaan. He may have been drawn to the area because of its bucolic scenery, and its quiet surroundings. Working with a local builder, he designed a modern Bauhaus style home and studio. At this time he was married to Edna Albert, an entrepreneur who had already invented and marketed an antiperspirant for women. She and Winter called their Canaan estate Juniper Hill. Here she planted numerous herbs and produced many spices that she later sold to McCormick Spices in the 1950s. In the late 1940s while Winter was working on the 7th mural for the Bank of Manhattan, he slipped and fell off a scaffold, fracturing his coccyx. His recovery was slow and painful, and he could no longer hold a paintbrush. Complaining of this and other ailments, in April of 1949, at the age of 63, Winter walked into the woods on his property and committed suicide.
- Sources view
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Winter, http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/ezra-winter-papers-9355, http://www.capitol.gov/html/EVT_2010061579321.html, http://observatory.designobserver.com/feature/ezra-winter-project-chapter-one/32408/, http://klemmrealestate.com/properties_details.php?806,
Ezra Winter - Winterhouse_2011-2, Ezra Winter Article - New York Times - 1911-9-9, Ezra Winter Article - New York Times - 1932-4-20, Ezra Winter Daughter Wedding Announcement - The Hartford Courant - 1938-7-7, Ezra Winter Divorce Article - New York Times - 1925-4-22, Ezra Winter Obituary - New York Times - 1949-4-8, Ezra Winter Obituary - The Hartford Courant - 1949-4-8, Ezra Winter Wife Article - New York Times - 1959-5-30, Ezra Winter House for Sale - Klemm Real Estate - Associated Resource(s)