James Lechay

{{Infobox artist | name = James Lechay | image =  | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1907|07|05}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|2001|08|11|1907|07|05}} | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | education = University of Illinois, B.A. 1928; Study for M.A, never graduated | known_for = Painting | notable_works = | style = Abstract Impressionism | movement = | spouse = | partner = | memorials = | website = | module = }}

'''James Lechay''' (July 5, 1907 – August 11, 2001) was an American painter who described himself an "abstract impressionist".<ref name="Spanierman Bio">{{cite web |url=http://spaniermanmodern.com/inventory/L/James-Lechay/James-Lechay_BIO.htm |title=James Lechay (1907-2001) |work=Spanierman Modern |publisher=Spanierman Modern (art gallery) |date=2011 |accessdate=22 July 2017}}</ref>

== New York years==

One of five children born to Russian Jewish immigrants, Lechay grew up in the Bronx and in Joliet, Illinois. He earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Illinois in 1928 and was a week from completing his M.A. when he quit school to return to New York to study painting with his older brother, the painter Myron Lechay (1891–1972). He rented a studio in a building on 16th Street and Sixth Avenue, where he met Raphael Soyer, Moses Soyer, Mark Rothko, and several other painters who had studios in the same building. Soon he was immersed in the aesthetic, social, and political struggles of New York City's Depression-era art world.<ref>Brown, Robert F. [https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-james-lechay-11743 "Oral History Interview with James Lechay"]. Smithsonian Institution, ''Archives of American Art'', July-Aug 1998</ref> In 1934 he married Rose Davidowitz. Their daughter, Jo Lechay, was born in 1936 and a son, Daniel, in 1945.

For a short time in the 1930s, Lechay was a social realist, taking part in exhibitions protesting such injustices as homelessness and racism.<ref>London, Sara, "A Conversation with James Lechay," ''The Iowa Review''. Winter 1995, p. 147</ref> Though he soon removed politics from his painting, he remained politically active and became a leader of the Artists Union, an organization of artists employed in the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In 1938 the WPA sent him to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he organized a gallery and set up exhibitions of work by Milton Avery, Max Weber, and other WPA artists. Back in New York, he was once arrested along with several other artists for demonstrating at WPA headquarters. When the police asked for his name, he answered with "James Picasso". Following suit, the others called themselves after their favorite artists – Manet, Cézanne, Matisse, etc. Ultimately, they were all released, the police never having caught on to the deception.<ref>Solman, Joseph, quoted in Phoebe Hoban, ''Alice Neel: The Art of Not Sitting Pretty''. {{ISBN| 978-0312607487}} New York: St. Martins Press, 2010. P. 109</ref>

== Iowa City years==

In 1945, Lechay came to teach at Iowa<ref name="Spanierman Bio"/> at the suggestion of his friend Philip Guston. There he joined a group assembled by art department chairman Lester Longman. The group included Mauricio Lasansky, Humbert Albrizio, Carl Fracassini, and Byron Burford, among others. Lechay remained on the art faculty till 1975, continuing to paint and exhibit his work in Iowa, New York, and around the country.<ref name="Gerber-PictorialHist">Gerber, John C, ''A Pictorial History of the University of Iowa''. Iowa City: U Iowa Press, {{ISBN|1609380231}} 1988 Pp 180, 201.</ref>

In 1966 a commissioned portrait of J.W. Maucker, president of the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), brought controversy.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/7518563/ "That Controversial Portrait Of State College President"]. ''The Des Moines Register''. May 15, 1966, p106</ref> When the portrait was unveiled, many at UNI were outraged by its failure to look like a typical portrait of a college president – an abstracted portrait study in shades of blue, brown, and gray. A UNI English professor, Josef Fox, suggested burning it.<ref name="Behrens">Behrens, Roy, [http://www.bobolinkbooks.com/DesignHist/MauckerPortrait.html "In the Eye of the Beholder: the Maucker Portrait Controversy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227100225/http://www.bobolinkbooks.com/DesignHist/MauckerPortrait.html |date=2015-12-27 }}, ''Tractor: Iowa Arts and Culture''. Summer 1999</ref>{{rp|p. 6}} Controversy raged, and Lechay traveled to UNI to debate the portrait’s merits with Professor Fox before a large audience. His defense of the portrait, and of free expression, won over the crowd and ended the opposition.<ref name="Behrens"/>{{rp|p. 9}}

While teaching at Iowa, Lechay led summer workshops at various American art schools and at institutions in Hong Kong and Samos, Greece.<ref name="Spanierman Bio"/> Many of his students went on to distinguished careers as artists and teachers.<ref name="Gerber-PictorialHist"/>

== Wellfleet years ==

In 1959, the builder-architect Hayden Walling, in close consultation with the Lechays, designed and built a summer home and studio for the couple in Wellfleet, MA. These are now considered important examples of domestic Cape Cod Modern architecture.<ref>McMahon, Peter, and Christine Cipriani, ''Cape Cod Modern: Midcentury Architecture and Community on the Outer Cape''. New York: Metropolis Books, 2015. Pp. 82, 86-91 {{ISBN|978-1935202165}}</ref>{{specify|date=November 2018}} The Lechays moved to Wellfleet year-round in 1972; for the next three decades Lechay showed regularly in New York, Provincetown and Wellfleet, taught privately, and painted daily. Rose Lechay died in 1995, James six years later at the age of 94.

James Lechay was represented in New York by Kraushaar Galleries from 1955 to 2001, and later by the Spanierman Gallery; in Provincetown by Berta Walker Gallery; and in Wellfleet by the Cherry Stone Gallery. As of 2017, much of his work is owned by the Ashley John Gallery in Palm Beach.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Ashley John Gallery |url=http://www.ashleyjohngallery.com/searchresultslist.php?&subject=James+Lechay |title=James Lechay}}</ref>

== Reception ==

At a time when many of his contemporaries were embracing complete abstraction, James Lechay never abandoned figuration, and retained images and suggestions of: people; cities; seascapes; and various still lives. His imagery was never directly representational or literal, but within its abstraction, the figure remained as a defining characteristic.<ref name="Wars-PTown Arts">Lloyd, Ann Wilson, "The Wars and Remembrances of James Lechay," ''Provincetown Arts'' 1990, pp. 138-9</ref> He maintained that every painting, no matter what the subject, is essentially a self-portrait in that it expresses the inner being of the artist.<ref name="Wars-PTown Arts"/> Though he acknowledged influences as diverse as Giorgio Morandi, Max Beckmann, Milton Avery, and Henri Matisse, he "...realized early on that the richest source of inspiration and challenge was inside his own persona, which brought about pure, process-driven painting, unhampered by the demons of careerism and trendiness".<ref>Lloyd, Ann Wilson, quoted in Hinton, p. 60</ref>

The University of Iowa Museum of Art owns an extensive collection of Lechay's work. According to the museum’s director, James Leach, "Lechay stands out as one of the most significant American artists of an innovative era who has been insensitively overlooked."<ref>Leach, James. Letter to PAAM director Christine McCarthy, April 5, 2017. From PAAM files.</ref> The Provincetown painter Megan Hinton has written that "Lechay’s masterful works are simultaneously expressionistic, impressionistic, abstract, minimal, and realistic. He executed a confident and expressive painting approach through his entire career, and left us with an array of work that appears timeless and effortless.<ref>Hinton, Megan, "Head and Hand: The Art of James Lechay," ''Provincetown Arts'', an annual publication of Provincetown Arts Press Inc. Provincetown, MA. Summer 2017. P. 61</ref> According to Hinton, "When I see a really great painting, I see the connection between the confidence that went into making the mark, and how that is portraying a particular image. In Lechay we see that confidence, and that economy of mark-making.” <ref>Brown, Susan R.,"The Influential Mark of James Lechay", ''Provincetown Banner'' (newspaper), July 6, 2017. P. B4</ref>

==Exhibitions and awards== ===Solo shows (partial list)=== *Another Place, New York NY (1936)<ref name="Spanierman Bio"/> *Artists' Gallery, New York NY (1938, 1940)<ref name="Spanierman Bio"/> *Ferargil Galleries, New York NY (1942, 1943)<ref name="Spanierman Bio"/> *Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo OH (1943)<ref name="Spanierman Bio"/> *Kraushaar Galleries, New York NY (1955–2001)<ref name="Who's Who 2001">''Who's Who in America 2001''. New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who's Who. Vol II, p. 3079</ref> *Macbeth Gallery, New York (1946, 1947, 1950)<ref name="Spanierman Bio"/> *University of Iowa, Iowa City IA, (1951–1972)<ref name="Spanierman Bio"/> *Provincetown Art Association, Provincetown MA (1997)<ref name="Spanierman Bio"/> Others in Trieste, Italy; Dartmouth college; and SUNY Binghamton<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> A retrospective show at the Provincetown Art Association, curated by painter Megan Hinton, opened in July 2017.<ref>Brown, Susan R</ref>

===Group shows=== *Metropolitan Museum of Art<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Brooklyn Museum<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Corcoran Gallery<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Whitney Museum<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Smithsonian National Collection of Fine Arts<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/>

===Awards=== *Norman Wait Harris Medal (1941)<ref name="NatAcademy">{{cite web|url=http://w.nationalacademy.org/collections/artists/detail/144/|title=James Lechay: 1907 - 2001|work=Artists & Architects|publisher=National Academy Museum|accessdate=22 July 2013}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Spanierman Bio"/> *Art Institute of Chicago (1943)<ref name="NatAcademy"/> *American academy of Arts and Letters<ref name="NatAcademy"/> *Walker Art Center (1947)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Childe Hassam Prize (1974)<ref name="NatAcademy"/> *Benjamin Altman Prize (1977, 1991)<ref name="NatAcademy"/><ref name="Spanierman Bio"/> *Ranger Fund Purchase Prize (1979)<ref name="NatAcademy"/><ref name="Spanierman Bio"/> *Edwin Palmer Award (1981)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Obrig Prize (1992, 1995)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/>

===Collections===

*National Museum of American Art (Smithsonian)<ref name="NatAcademy"/> - 2 works **''Self-Portrait with Cat'' (1959)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=14487 |title=Self-Portrait with Cat |work=Smithsonian American Art Museum: Renwick Gallery |accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> **''Trapeze Artist'' (1940)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=14488 |title=Trapeze Artist |work=Smithsonian American Art Museum: Renwick Gallery |accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> *Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts<ref name="NatAcademy"/> *Brooklyn Museum<ref name="NatAcademy"/> - 1 work **''New York Dock'' (1939–40)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/59398 |title=New York Dock: James Lechay |publisher=Brooklyn Museum |accessdate=1 August 2017}}</ref> *Chicago Art Institute<ref name="NatAcademy"/><ref>[http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/artist/Lechay,+James James Lechay] ''Artic'' (Art Institute Chicago)</ref> *National Academy of Design<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Grinnell College<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Skidmore College<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Coe College<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *University of Iowa Museum of Art<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *University of Arizona<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Syracuse University<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *University of Northern Iowa<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Sheldon Museum, University of Nebraska<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Illinois Wesleyan University<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Danforth Museum (Framingham MA)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Memorial Art Gallery (Rochester NY)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Hunter Museum of Art (Chattanooga)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Philbrook Museum (Tulsa)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Wichita Art Center<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Joslyn Museum (Omaha)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Memphis Brooks Museum of Art<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Des Moines Art Center<ref name="NatAcademy"/> *Figge Museum (Davenport)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Grout Center (Waterloo)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *MacNider Museum (Mason City)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Springfield Art Museum<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Westmoreland Museum<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *New Britain Institute of Art<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *Cape Cod Museum of Art (Dennis)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/> *St. Mary's College (MD)<ref name="Who's Who 2001"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lechay, James}} Category:1907 births Category:2001 deaths Category:20th-century American painters