Arnold Friedman (1874 – 1946)

Arnold Friedman is considered an extremely gifted and original American modern painter by scholars and art historians today. He came to the profession of a painter rather late in life and did not devote himself to his art on a full time basis until 1933, at the age of 59.

Friedman was born to Hungarian Jewish parents in Corona, Queens, where he worked as a post office clerk for some forty years, painting on evenings and weekends. Under the auspices of the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration, Friedman painted murals for Chalfonte-Haddon Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey and post office buildings in Orange, Virginia; Kingstree, South Carolina; and Warrenton, Georgia.

Friedman’s style underwent several transformations during his career. He began his career in 1905 under the tutelage of Robert Henri and Kenneth Hayes Miller at the Art Students League in New York. These painters had an important influence on his early style, which was geared towards representational subjects. However, during his studies at the Art Students Leagues, Friedman found himself a misfit as an older postal clerk, and harnessed the belief that “every painter must learn his own trade. ”

In 1909 Friedman took a six-month leave of absence from his job at the Post Office to study art in Paris. During this time, he was exposed to the virtues of Impressionism. He was most influenced by the Pointillism of Pisarro, and reflected his admiration of other Impressionists and Post-Impressionists was reflected in his own art after his return to New York. Friedman’s trip to France also introduced him to Cubi`sm, which he experimented for a brief period. From these European influences, Friedman chartered his own distinctly American course and created a unique approach to painting.