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Sam Feinstein
Sam Feinstein has been called the "least commercial artist I have ever known" by art historian, Irving Sandler, who first met Feinstein years earlier in the 1950s. His book offers a glimpse into the art, life, philosophy and teachings of a man who painted for over seventy years, the last forty in self-chosen obscurity while he explored the infinite potential of the visual language and continually refined color-forms in his dynamically expressive compositions. His students called him an embodiment of hope, a shining light,an utterly genuine and unique individual, an outstanding teacher and painter whose integrity in art was uncompromising. One student wrote, "He gave me one of the greatest gifts I'll ever receive: painting as a deep spiritual practice."
Born in Russia and raised in Philadelphia, Feinstein taught and supervised classes at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and filmed the museums first art documentary. He later moved to New York and from 1949 to 1952 studied with Hans Hofmann whom he filmed in 1950 to create his documentary "Hans Hofmann". Feinstein taught at Pratt Institute, wrote for Art Digest magazine and exhibited his paintings throughout the 1950s in New York, Philadelphia and Provincetown until he withdrew from the exhibition world in 1960 to focus solely on painting and teaching for the remainder of his life. His abstract works explore the dynamism between shape and color.
Born in Russia and raised in Philadelphia, Feinstein taught and supervised classes at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and filmed the museums first art documentary. He later moved to New York and from 1949 to 1952 studied with Hans Hofmann whom he filmed in 1950 to create his documentary "Hans Hofmann". Feinstein taught at Pratt Institute, wrote for Art Digest magazine and exhibited his paintings throughout the 1950s in New York, Philadelphia and Provincetown until he withdrew from the exhibition world in 1960 to focus solely on painting and teaching for the remainder of his life. His abstract works explore the dynamism between shape and color.