Max Spivak

Max Spivak (1906 in Bregnun, Poland - 1981 in New York City) was an American visual artist known primarily as a ceramic muralist.

Initially Spivak pursued a career as an accountant, then he travelled to Paris where he met the painter Arshile Gorky who was a big influence on him.

Spivak was among the many artists who created murals for the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the American Great Depression.[1] During this time, one of his assistants was the future abstract expressionist icon Lee Krasner.[2]

Spivak is especially noted for his mosaic mural in the vestibule entryway of 111 West 40th street in midtown Manhattan (today re-addressed as 5 Bryant Park), a work which through abstract forms pays tribute to some of the tools of the garment industry which once flourished in the location's Lower Manhattan district.[3][4][5]

Spivak's work was included in two exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New Horizons in American Art in 1935 and Painting and Sculpture in Architecture in 1949.[6]

References

1. "Art Notes". The New York Times. 1936-10-22. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
2. "Lee Krasner". Spellman Gallery.
3. "Oral history interview with Max Spivak, circa 1965 | Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution". www.aaa.si.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
4. "Max Spivak | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
5. "MAX SPIVAK". The New York Times. 1981-12-14. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
6. "Max Spivak | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2023-09-01.