LOUIS WEINER

LOUIS WEINER

LOUIS WEINER was born in the Ukraine and studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago. He has painted in various parts of the United States and Canada, is a member of the Palette and Chisel Club, the Little Gallery of Evanston, the Chicago Society of Artists, the All-Illinois Academy of Fine Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago Alumni Association, and his work has been exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Midland Club of Chicago and the Palette and Chisel Club of Chicago. He has had one-man shows in the two latter places. His work has been written about in Chicago and Philadelphia newspapers and magazines, by J. Z. Jacobson, Irwin St. John Tucker, Eleanor Jewett and others.

Subject matter plays an important part in my work. This is borne out by such pieces of mine as "Marching Men” "Eagle Dance," and "Corn Dance." But then, of course, design and color play an even more important part in my painting, and in the aforementioned compositions at least as much as in others, where the subject matter is not nearly so significant. Up until the present, abstraction, entirely as an end in itself, has not concerned me greatly, but I have made use of the "abstract" in molding my designs. I have a strong feeling for color, but I do not believe it would be correct to say that I use color merely for the sake of color. I think of color always as a part of the composition as a whole, and of course, use it freely and frequently to help effect the illusion of volume and perspective. Form is of utmost importance to me, and I strive continuously to achieve solidity and proper perspective. I believe that I am justified in saying that my personality is reflected in my art, though I have never deliberately striven to achieve that end. Others, not I, were the first to discover that and, guided by them, I have gradually come to see the truth of their discovery and it has helped me to understand my art better, and all art. I try to paint independently and I am not influenced by the demands of the market, and I hope that my thinking in general is independent whether it be in relation to politics, economics, or esthetics. I have not consciously been affected by the comment of art critics. I avoid the introduction into my work of national, racial, or religious elements for their own sake. I believe that art is universal and makes use of elements, emotions, and phenomena which are in their essence the same the world over and in all time. Louis Weiner.