Eleanor Coen
Encyclopedia
Max Kahn
Max Kahn was a lithographer, painter and sculptor born in Slonim, Belarus in 1902. He worked until age 100 and died in 2005 at the age of 103...
helped forge a tradition of twentieth century color lithography and painting. She was born in 1916 in Normal, Illinois. Both a student (and later teacher) at the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, Coen studied there with Boris Anisfeld
Boris Anisfeld
Boris Israëlevich Anisfeld was a Russian-American painter and theater designer.-Biography:1878 - October 2. Boris Israelevich Anisfeld is born in Bieltsy, in the Russian province of Bessarabia, into the family of Srul Ruvinovich Anisfeld, an estate manager, and Gitlya Istkovna Anisfeld. Until he...
, Francis Chapin and Max Kahn
Max Kahn
Max Kahn was a lithographer, painter and sculptor born in Slonim, Belarus in 1902. He worked until age 100 and died in 2005 at the age of 103...
. She married Kahn
Max Kahn
Max Kahn was a lithographer, painter and sculptor born in Slonim, Belarus in 1902. He worked until age 100 and died in 2005 at the age of 103...
in 1942. She was at the forefront of the Chicago art in the '40's and '50's. Her work found inspiration the urban landscapes, her travels and the figure rendered in her signature figurative expressionist style.
Federal Art Project
The Federal Art Project was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression-era New Deal Works Progress Administration Federal One program in the United States. It operated from August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943. Reputed to have created more than 200,000 separate works, FAP artists created...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. She shared a studio with Max Kahn
Max Kahn
Max Kahn was a lithographer, painter and sculptor born in Slonim, Belarus in 1902. He worked until age 100 and died in 2005 at the age of 103...
and other artists Isadore Weiner and Misch Kohn in Chicago's South Side. There they pioneered color lithography which wasn't supported at the time at SAIC. In 1941 Eleanor was the first woman to win the James Nelson Raymond Traveling Fellowship, a $2000 first prize (for students with the best work). People who won usually went to Europe but because of the war Max and Eleanor decided to go to Mexico. They drove to Mexico with friend and fellow artist Julio de Diego, (who later married Gypsy Rose Lee
Gypsy Rose Lee
Gypsy Rose Lee was an American burlesque entertainer famous for her striptease act. She was also an actress, author, and playwright whose 1957 memoir was made into the stage musical and film Gypsy.-Early life:...
). In Mexico City they lived with their close friend Alfredo Zalce, who was a founder of the Taller De Grafica Popular (TGP). Eleanor did a number of lithographs in that timeframe and in fact was the first woman to work for the TGP. She and Max were both active members of the TGP and influenced other Chicago area artists to follow. With a close friend, artist Pablo O'Higgins
Pablo O'Higgins
Pablo Esteban O'Higgins was an American-Mexican artist, muralist and illustrator....
, Max and Eleanor went to San Miguel de Allende where Max set up a litho studio and taught lithography at the School of Bellas Artes in San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende is a city and municipality located in the far eastern part of the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It is 274 km from Mexico City and 97 km from the state capital of Guanajuato...
, Mexico. While there Eleanor painted a large mural which still graces a wall in the school courtyard. The mural and school are national monuments. A good friend Alfredo Zalce, was also doing a mural there at the same time. In Mexico she met other artists such as Leopoldo Méndez, and Ángel Bracho. She was especially influenced by Jose Clement Orozco for his figural style.
After the war started they came back to Chicago where she and Max were married in 1942. Eleanor and Max returned to Mexico several times traveling throughout the Yucatán and staying in Campeche with their artist friend Frank Vavruska. She taught at SAIC Ox-Bow summer school of art in Saugatuck, Michigan with Francis Chapin
Francis Chapin
Francis W. Chapin was an American artist. His works included both watercolors and oil paintings of landscapes and portraits....
. Eleanor and Max painted in San Francisco, Blackhawk Colorado, Santa Fe and on Martha's Vineyard where they have a studio and worked during the summers. Eleanor has had a long and successful career at the forefront of printmaking and oil painting and is a vital part of the art community. Her work appears in numerous collections and museums including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. She has won numerous prizes including the American Color Print Society in 1953, Philadelphia Print Club in 1952 and the Chicago show. Eleanor has been called the best painter in Chicago of the 40 & 50's era. She has won numerous prizes and now shows at the Corbett vs. Dempsey gallery in Chicago.
Coen's work is displayed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
and Art Institute of Chicago.
See www.eleanorcoen.com for additional information