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Lou Ferstadt

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Louis Ferstadt
Louis Goodman Ferstadt, from the Archives of American Art
Born1900 (1900)
Died1954 (aged 53–54)
NationalityAmerican
Known forPainting, muralist, comics

Louis Goodman Ferstadt (7 October 1900–August 1954) was an American muralist and comics artist.[1]

Biography

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Louis Goodman Ferstadt was born in Berestechko in the Russian Empire on 7 October 1900.[2] His early childhood coincided with a pogrom and in 1910, his family emigrated to Chicago in the United States. Louis studied at Hull House, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago[3] from 1918 to 1922[3][citation needed] and worked as an artist for the Chicago Tribune for a time.[1][2]

He was a member of the Art Students League of Chicago in 1923.[4] Ferstadt later won a scholarship to the Art Students League of New York at the age of 23 and moved to New York City. He later studied at The Educational Alliance art school after his scholarship funds were depleted.[1] In 1926–1927, Ferstadt did a comic strip called The Kids on Our Block in the New York Evening Graphic.[5]

He painted murals at the RCA Building and the Eighth Street Subway station in New York City on the occasion of the 1939 World's Fair.[6] He drew comics, including "Chuck",[7] "Mr. Risk",[8] and "The Bouncer". Ferstadt identified as a communist and regularly contributed comic strips for the Daily Worker newspaper.[9]

Ferstadt died of a heart attack at a campsite in Phoenicia, New York, in August 1954. His collection of art lie in the New York Public Library, Whitney Museum of American Art, the Tel Aviv Museum and the Jewish museum of Birobidzhan.[1]

Ferstadt working as part of the New Deal

Further reading

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  • Kleeblatt, Norman L. (1991). Painting a place in America : Jewish artists in New York 1900–1945 ; a tribute to the Educational Alliance Art School ; [published on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition organized by the Jewish Museum, New York ... May 16 – September 29, 1991]. Bloomington [u.a.]: Indiana Univ. Press [u.a.] ISBN 9780253285362.
  • Jordan, Darran (2015). Green Lantern History: An Unauthorised Guide to the DC Comic Book Series Green Lantern. Lulu. ISBN 9781326139636.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Louis Ferstadt (1900-1954)". American Jewish Art. Archived from the original on 30 April 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b Marcus, Jacob Rader; Daniels, Judith M. (1994). The concise dictionary of American Jewish biography. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Carlson Pub. p. 153. ISBN 9780926019744.
  3. ^ a b SAIC Archives
  4. ^ The Thirtieth Annual Exhibition of the Works of the Art Students League of Chicago 1923
  5. ^ Kitchen, Denis; Buhle, Paul (2009). The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics. Harry N. Abrams. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-8109-7296-4.
  6. ^ "Lou Ferstadt (1900, Ukraine – 1954, USA)", lambiek.net
  7. ^ Chuck, by Louis Ferstadt, 1944
  8. ^ Mr. Risk, by Louis Ferstadt, 1944
  9. ^ Callahan, Bob (2 January 2003). "Two-Fisted Truth". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
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