{{short description|American artist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Use American English|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox artist | name = Sidney Geist | image = Photo of Sidney Geist.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1914|4|11|mf=y}} | birth_place = Paterson, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2005|10|18|1914|4|11|mf=y}} | death_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | education = St. Stephen's College, Art Students League of New York, Académie de la Grande Chaumière | field = Sculptor, writer, educator | training = | movement = | works = | patrons = | awards = | spouse = | partner = | website = }} '''Sidney Geist''' (April 11, 1914 – October 18, 2005) was an American artist. He was known for his sculpture and his art criticism.
==Biography== Geist was born April 11, 1914, in Paterson, New Jersey,<ref name="Art In Embassies">{{cite web |title=Sidney Geist – U.S. Department of State |url=https://art.state.gov/personnel/sidney_geist/ |website=Art In Embassies |access-date=25 August 2022}}</ref><ref name="BnF Services">{{cite web |title=Sidney Geist (1914-2005) |url=https://data.bnf.fr/en/12741221/sidney_geist/ |website=BnF Services |access-date=25 August 2022 |language=en}}</ref> and graduated from Eastside High School in 1931.<ref>Levine, Robert Haines. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108469485/eastside-high-school-hall-of-fame/ "Eastside High Graduates Create New Hall of Fame"],''Paterson Evening News'', January 26, 1931. Accessed August 28, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Norma Holden and Jess Weiner, and Sidney Geist. who received the majority of votes of the graduating senior class of February, 1931, are the most prominent scholars, each leading their sex In the lines of student selections."</ref> He attended St. Stephen's College now Bard College, and the Art Students League of New York.<ref name="AskArt">{{cite web |title=Sidney Geist |url=https://www.askart.com/artist/Sidney_Geist/130334/Sidney_Geist.aspx |website=AskArt |access-date=25 August 2022}}</ref> For a time he worked as an apprentice with the sculptor Paul Fiene. He also worked for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project from 1938 through 1940.<ref name="New York Times"/>
Geist served in the United States Army in Europe from 1944 through 1945, the final years of World War II.<ref name="New York Times"/> Geist returned to Europe after the war, attending the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and exhibiting at the Galerie Huit.<ref name="Art In Embassies"/>
Geist was a writer, contributing to Art Digest, Artforum, and The New Criterion.<ref name="New York Times"/> He also wrote several books including ''Brancusi: A Study of the Sculpture'' (published by Grossman in 1968 ),<ref name="World Cat">{{cite book |title=Brancusi : a study of the sculpture |oclc=902120 }}</ref> and ''Interpreting Cézanne'' (published by Harvard University Press in 1988).<ref name="Harvard University Press">{{cite web |title=Interpreting Cézanne |url=https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674459557 |website=Harvard University Press |access-date=25 August 2022}}</ref>
Geist taught at many universities including Brooklyn College, Pratt Institute, the University of California, Berkeley, and Vassar College. He was one of the founders of the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture.<ref name="Art In Embassies"/><ref name="New York Times"/>
In 1975 Geist was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.<ref name="John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation">{{cite web |title=Sidney Geist |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/sidney-geist/ |website=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |access-date=25 August 2022}}</ref> He was a member of the American Abstract Artists.<ref name="American Abstract Artists">{{cite web |title=Past Members |url=https://americanabstractartists.org/current-members/past/ |website=American Abstract Artists |access-date=25 August 2022}}</ref> Geist died October 18, 2005, in New York City.<ref name="New York Times">{{cite web |last1=Glueck |first1=Grace |title=Sidney Geist, 91, Sculptor and Writer, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/21/arts/design/sidney-geist-91-sculptor-and-writer-dies.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=25 August 2022 |date=21 October 2005}}</ref><ref name="BnF Services"/>
=== Death === Geist died October 18, 2005, in New York City.<ref name="New York Times">{{cite web |last1=Glueck |first1=Grace |title=Sidney Geist, 91, Sculptor and Writer, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/21/arts/design/sidney-geist-91-sculptor-and-writer-dies.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=25 August 2022 |date=21 October 2005}}</ref><ref name="BnF Services" />
=== Legacy === His papers are in the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution.<ref name="Archives of American Art">{{cite web |title=Sidney Geist papers, 1938-1994 |url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/sidney-geist-papers-8201 |website=Archives of American Art |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=25 August 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *[https://www.artforum.com/print/198802/sidney-geist-34772 Interview with Geist in Artforum, 1988]
==External links== *[https://www.invaluable.com/artist/geist-sidney-x9ftpzxpw7/ images of Geist's work] on Invaluable
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Geist, Sidney}} Category:1914 births Category:2005 deaths Category:Eastside High School (Paterson, New Jersey) alumni Category:Sculptors from New Jersey Category:American male artists Category:Artists from Paterson, New Jersey Category:New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture faculty