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ARTHUR LIDOV, From WPA to America's foremost Medical and Science Illustrator and Master Painter.



T-H-I-S N-E-W P-A-G-E U-N-D-E-R C-O-N-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-O-N

Arthur Lidov 1917(Chicago)-1990(NY)

Arthur Lidov was “the” favorite artist of our stable of artist/friends - more as a mentor and friend.

Arthur was a true Renaissance man. He holds the patent for the insertable spoke-less bicycle wheel which was impervious to flats. He developed a new technique for bas relief and developed and extended Namias methods of photo-sculpture. To say it mildly, Arthur was a genius.

His illustrations were quite deep. He brought illustration art up to a higher level – yes it was commercial art, but some could stand their ground on a museum wall, not as mere decoration or advertising, but a work with depth and meaning.

He was going to teach Roberta (my wife) a lost art of egg tempera. When we heard the news of his sudden passing (heart), we were deeply saddened. I loved his work and over the years have purchased a few from Arthur. He had a special glow regarding my affinity with certain pieces. I was a photographer whose business was not doing well, and was forced to sell some of my treasured works by my artist friends. One such work was the famed cover art of the first edition of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles.

Most people do not realize the significance of the mark he has made. He has influenced numerous artists and his work is fascinating as you will see. Education: University of Chicago BA in 1936 and a Graduate Fellow in Art History.
WPA: Murals and Sculptures Commissions 1939
Select Exhibitions: Art Institute of Chicago, 1933, 1934, 1941.
Pineapple Gallery, 1943
National Academy of Art, 1958.
Museum of Modern Art, 1962.
J. Walter Thompson Gallery, 1964.
Awards: Art Director’s Club Award, 1952, 1953, and 1959.
Illustrator’s Club, NY, 1963, 1973, and 1974.
American Institute of Graphic Arts Award, 1963.

Arthur Lidov had a large working studio in Manhattan’s East 60’s. He had an interesting neighbor who also had his working studio there, Mark Rothko. A sad fact, was that Arthur Lidov, who had such a vast medical field knowledge, examined Rothko after his tragic 1970 suicide and pronounced him dead. While Rothko was completely Abstract and Arthur Lidov, wholly figurative, they both got along and talked and argued about art endlessly.



Arthur Lidov in his studio. Photograph by Stuart Friedman.






Genesis. 1945. Tempera on Artist Illustration Board.


The Net That Secretes MathematicsExhibited at the Museum of Modern Art Show, The Figure.Private Collection.


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