Background
Schwartz, William Samuel was born on February 23, 1896 in Smorgon, Russia. Son of Samuel and Taube Schwartz.
Schwartz, William Samuel was born on February 23, 1896 in Smorgon, Russia. Son of Samuel and Taube Schwartz.
Came to the United States 1912, naturalized, 1925. Scholarship student Vilna Art School, Russia, 1908-1912, The Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, 1915-1917. Graduate with honorary mentions for portrait painting, life study painting, general excellence in painting.
Studied singing under Karl Stein, Auditorium Conservatory of Music, Chicago, 1915-1918, under Francesco Daddi, 1918-1919.
At the age of thirteen, he moved to the nearby city of Vilna to attend art school. Four years later, he emigrated to the United States and eventually enrolled in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After graduating, he put his art career on hold to concentrate on a budding career as an opera singer.
When Schwartz returned to painting, he distinguished himself with dreamy, symbolist works and abstractions that tended to bewilder viewers.
He also scandalized conservative audiences with numerous lithographs of nude women. During the Great Depression, Schwartz became an artist on the Federal Art Project payroll.
Working under the supervision of Increase Robinson in Chicago, he painted Regionalist works showing the countryside and small-town American life. lieutenant was not until the early 1940s that Schwartz returned to painting the esoteric imagery for which he had become known.
He became a well-known figure in Chicago, mostly due to his memorable handlebar mustache and eccentric persona.
He was also one of a group of prominent Chicago artists—including Ivan Albright, Malvin Albright, and Aaron Bohrod—that hung out at Riccardo"s Restaurant and Gallery during the 1940s and 1950s. In his final years, Schwartz returned exclusively to painting abstracts. These paintings are considered among his best work.
Schwartz began suffering from Alzheimer"s disease around 1970 and died in Chicago on February 10, 1977.
The Art Institute of Chicago and the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha have several of Schwartz’s works in their permanent collections.
Married Mona Turner, August 15, 1939.