| Schwartz, Irving |
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(1895 - 1989)
Place of Birth: New York History: Irving Schwartz was born in New York and came to El Paso in 1906. He graduated from El Paso High School and attended Columbia University. Primarily a businessman and rancher, he was also a graphic artist. Mainly self-taught, he studied under Xavier Gonzales and Emilio Garcia Cahero. During the depression he was chairman of the area Public Works of Art committee. In the early 1930s he won an award for the etching “ Siesta” at the Los Angeles County Fair. He chose Border and Southwestern subjects for most of his work concentrating on the region, its land and people. He showed an interest in, and a thorough understanding of, nature and technology. His friend, artist Tom Lea, said about him, “He never engaged in anything that he didn’t know. He was a very smart man, but was very modest.” Schwartz showed his etchings in the San Jacinto Plaza show of 1934. He had a print scene from Juarez in the Philadelphia Society of Etchers, Newman Galleries and exhibited at the Grand Central Galleries, New York. He exhibited at the Los Angeles County Fair, Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Dallas Art Museum, Centennial Museum, El Paso and the El Paso Museum of Art. |