Winold Reiss was born in Germany in 1886 and after being trained by Franz von Stuck at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, immigrated to the United States in 1913. His range of work is wide and he is perhaps best known as a portraitist but he was also a gifted commercial designer and mural painter as well. His subject range was wide and included themes like the steel workers in this painting. He also provided training in drawing to many Black artists during the Harlem Renaissance.

He was a pioneer of modernism and it can be seen in many of his designs of some of New York's greatest restaurants such as the Restaurant Crillon and the Longchamp's chain. He helped define the high-style American approach to commercial art and design into the 1950's. Of his public works, the best known is the mosaic murals painted in the Cincinnati Union Terminal. He painted two, 22 x 110 foot murals depicting fourteen major industries plus many smaller ones in the course of his two year assignment.

Following the convention of the day for artists, he traveled to the West and financed it by creating advertising banners for the Great Northern Railway. His collaboration with Great Northern lasted over thirty years and produced many images in the "See America First" campaign run by the Railway. Reiss traveled to Glacier Park and became involved with the Blackfeet Nation. It is said they bestowed the name Beaver Child on Reiss and trusted him to record their greatness, not for himself, but for them. Reiss completed a considerable amount of work that captured the true spirit of the Blackfeet. A compassionate man who greatly respected all people as human beings, Reiss believed that his art could help break down racial prejudices.

Medium : 1 drawing : gouache or tempera, color

Created/Published : 1920

Creator : Winold Reiss, artist, 1886 - 1953

Housed in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress

Availability: Special order: ships in 3-4 weeks

Product #: cph3g05691