Trained as a gallery painter and fine artist, Schwartz brought a distinctive class and dignity to his illustrations. His talent was recognized early and he was awarded scholarships to the Arts Students League and the Rhode Island School of Design. He also won several awards for his paintings and enjoyed successful one man shows at the Davis, Hirschl & Adler, Maxwell and Babcock galleries in New York. His work was spread among the NY intellectual and arts communities, in the collections of figures such as Leonard Bernstein, William Styron, Gay Talese, William Paley and Daniel Selznick.
At the same time he was an award winning illustrator for top periodicals such as Esquire, Fortune and Playboy.
Today Schwartz remains a prolific artist who paints actively in his Manhattan studio. Recently I had the great pleasure of spending an afternoon with him, looking at his originals and talking about his work. I came away with enough material for a dozen posts. In the days ahead I will be sharing some of the sketches, insights and original images I encountered during that rewarding visit.
Post a Comment