Artist

Maurice Kish

born Dvinsk, Russia 1895-died New York City 1987
Born
Dvinsk, Russia
Died
New York, New York, United States
Biography

Born in Russia, Maurice Kish immigrated to New York in his teens and studied art at Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design. He held a variety of jobs, including poet, amateur boxer, Catskills dance instructor, and factory worker in New York City, where he painted flowers on glass vases. As an artist, Kish's main subjects were cities and the human activity within; a labor activist, he used his canvases as a vehicle for telling the stories of industrial workers. Critics claim that his vision was one of "popular reality," meaning that his subjects and manner of painting them reflected what was important to the average person (Elizabeth McCausland, "Eleven Young Artists at the A.C.A. Gallery," The Springfield Sunday Union and Republican, September 15, 1940).

Works by this artist (4 items)

Sigmund Abeles, Untitled, n.d., etching, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1968.109.2
Untitled
Daten.d.
etching
Not on view
Sigmund Abeles, Self-Portrait with Saddles, 1972, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. Frederick P. Nause and Rebecca Nause, 1973.176.2
Self-Portrait with Saddles
Date1972
lithograph on paper
Not on view
Sigmund Abeles, Saddle/Soap, 1972, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. Frederick P. Nause and Rebecca Nause, 1973.176.1
Saddle/​Soap
Date1972
lithograph on paper
Not on view