BORN: April 1, 1883 Raudautz, Romania(i)

DIED: July 2, 1971 Chicago

MARRIED: 1945 Hilda Diamondii

TRAINING

1906 Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, weekends

1908-1910, 1912-1913, 1915-1919 Art Institute of Chicago, evenings

1917-1920 Graduated, academic department, Art Institute of Chicago with Antonin Sterba, Wellington J. Reynolds

1919 Art Institute of Chicago with George Bellows

1920 Art Institute of Chicago with Randall Davey

ART RELATED EMPLOYMENT

1910s Commercial illustrator and fashion artist

1923 Cover illustration, second annual exhibit, Chicago No-Jury Society of Artistsiii

1924 Illustrated cover of Chicago Literary Times, October 1924, announcing the No-Jury Society of Artists “Cubists Ball” and characterizing a group of Chicago Modernists.iv

1934-1937 Federal Art Project Easel section

TEACHING

1921 Dayton Art Institute with Herman Sachsv

1925-1926 Chicago Hull House

1927-1929 Jewish Board of Educationvi

1930-1932 Jewish Peoples Institute

1940s Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago

RESIDENCES

1883-1905 Raudautzvii

1905-1971 Chicago

TRAVEL

1918 Saugatuck, Michigan (summer)viii

1926 Maine (summer)ix

1928 Santa Fe, New Mexico with John Sloan, Fred Biesel and Francis Strainx

1929xi, 1930xii New Mexico and Colorado with Chicago artist Louis Weiner

1935 Great Smoky Mountains

1930s Santa Fe, New Mexico

1936-1948 Chesterton dunes, Indiana (summers)

1947 Ozark Mountains

Mexico

MEMBERSHIPS/OFFICES

Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists (board 1928-1931, vice president 1933-1934; President 1936-1937xiii); Chicago Society of Artists (board 1928xiv-1935); Introspectives, Chicagoxv

HONORS

1918 (two), 1919 (two) Honorable Mentions, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

1931 Honorable Mention, Chicago Jewish Artists, College of Jewish Studiesxvi

1935 Silver Medal, Findlay Galleries, Chicago Summer Salonxvii

JURIES SERVED

Chicago Society of Artists annual 1930, 1935

Jewish Education Building, Chicago under auspices of American Jewish Artists Club, Annual Exhibition by Jewish Artists of Chicago and Vicinity 1954xviii

Swedish American Artists annual 1931

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

American Jewish Art Club, Golden Anniversary Exhibition 1928-1978, 1978xix

Art Institute of Chicago, The Charles Deering Collection 1930

Art Mart, Grant Park, Chicago 1932xx

Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists annual 1930xxi

Hyde Park Art Center, Christmas Show 1933xxii

Studio Gallery, Diana Court, Chicago, Watercolors by Five Artistsxxiii

Studio Gallery, Diana Court, Chicago, Portraits of Chicago Artists by Chicago Artists 1932xxiv

Studio Gallery, Diana Court, Chicago, Five Jewish Artists 1932xxv

Studio Gallery, Diana Court, Chicago, Flower Show by Chicago Artists 1932xxvi

National Academy of Art, Chicago, Five Chicago Artists, 1929xxvii

Neo Arlimusc Society, Chicago Moderns in honor of Julius Meier-Graefe 1928xxviii

Neoterics, Paintings by Artist Members 1936xxix

National Academy of Art, Chicago, Five Chicago Artists, 1929xxx

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts annual 1933

Ten Artists 1935xxxi

Valparaiso University, The Indiana Dunes - Sights and Insights 1993

ONE, TWO OR THREE MAN EXHIBITIONS

1926 Chicago Woman’s Aid Societyxxxii

1929 Jewish People’s Institute, Chicagoxxxiii

1930 Art Institute of Chicagoxxxiv

1930 Cinema Art Theater, Chicagoxxxv

1930 Walden Book Shop, Chicagoxxxvi

1930 Increase Robinson Gallery, sculpturesxxxvii

1932 Arts Center Gallery, Chicagoxxxviii

1944 Renaissance Society, University of Chicagoxxxix

1972 Rosenston Gallery, Bernard Horwich Jewish Community Center, Chicagoxl

1992 R. H. Love Galleries, works on paper

1995 Illinois State Museumxli

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

Illinois State Museumxlii

INTERESTING NOTESxliii

His neighbors at his studio on Chicago’s south side were the artists Fred Biesel and Francis Strain also members of the Stony Island art community located in buildings left from the World’s Columbian Exposition. They had been students together at the Art Institute and greatly influenced by Bellows, Kroll and Davies. From 1925 until 1928, Armin and artist Todros Geller shared a studio. About his work he said, “I found the characteristics of the environment I live in expressed in my work, I found the steel ribs of the tall towers in the construction of my compositions, the earth being pushed up out of the lake for an outer drive in the texture of the paint and the whistlings, screeches, electric

flashes, whirrings and fast motion mixed with sunlight contained in the light of the painting.”

xliv He was active in oil painting, wood block prints, sculpture in stone and wood and water color. “Altho [sic] he is a modernist thru [sic] and thru [sic], there is nothing intrinsically baffling in his work...”xlv

“Makes speeches, philosphic dissertations, wood carvings, blockprints, water colors & painting. An abstruse mentality which works thus when he is feeling devilish he carves a devil; when he paints a tailor shop he uses his paint in stiches.” xlvi

iFor an overview of his career see: C. J. Bulliet, “Artists of Chicago Past and Present,” Chicago Daily News, 10/26/1935, Art, Antiques and The Artists section, p.4. See also Llewellyn Jones, “The Art Of Emil Armin,” Chicago Evening Post, 1/10/1930, Friday Literary Review section, Part 2, p.6.

iiThey were childless.

iiiSecond Annual Exhibition of the Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists, (Chicago: No-Jury Society of Artists, 1923), preface.

ivThe periodical was the brainchild of writer Ben Hecht. An original copy may be found in the Chicago Public Library and an image of that in “The Parade of Chicago Artists to the No-Jury Artists’ Ball,” in Art & Architecture on 1001 Afternoons in Chicago, Vol. 2, (Snickersnee Press, 2002), p.53. Armin appears in costume in “Art Centers Make Ready for ‘No Jury’ Ball,” Chicago Daily Journal, 10/3/1924, p.4.

vIn 1921 Sachs, after the close of Sachs’ show at the Art Institute (12/16/1920 to 1/3/1921) he took Armin with him to the Dayton Art Institute to begin an industrial training program in the decorative arts. The project later ran out of funding. “Enchanted Exiles,” in Art & Architecture on 1001 Afternoons in Chicago, Vol. 2, (Snickersnee Press, 2002), p.40.

viMarguerite B. Williams, “Here and There in the Art World: Emil Armin, True Bohemian, and His War on the ‘Pretty’,” Chicago Daily News, 5/29/1929, Midwest Features, p.14. The article also offers a review of his life and career.

viiobit., “Emil Armin dies; 57th St. artist,” Chicago Sun-Times, 7/3/1971. He had been orphaned at the age of ten.

viiiHotel Register, The Summer School of Art, Saugatuck, MI.

ixMarguerite B. Williams in a Chicago Daily News article “Frederick Remahl And Emil Armin,” 12/8/1926 states that he lived in the woods during the summer and carved images of Indians in wood.

xHis trip was announced in “Random Notes About Art and Artists,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 7/31/1928, p.5.

xi“Notes,” The Palette & Chisel, Vol. VIII, No. 6, June 1931, p.6. Eleanor Jewett, “Goodman Company Founds a New Club,” Chicago Tribune, 9/8/1929, p.H4.

xii“Louis Weiner to Exhibit,” The Palette & Chisel, Vol. VIII, No. 10, December 1931, p.6.

xiiiC. J. Bulliet, “Around the Galleries: No Jury May 16,” Chicago Daily News, 3/28/1936, Art, Antiques and The Artists section, p.4R.

xiv“Chicago Society of Artists,” The Palette & Chisel, Vol. V, May 1928, p.3.

xvUntitled newspaper article, Emil Armin Papers, Archives of American Art, Microfilm 1991 25, no. 3770, available in the Ryerson Library, Art Institute of Chicago.

xviThe prize was awarded his Still Life, Tom Vickerman, “Odd Jury Picks Art for Jewish Annual,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 2/24/1931, pp.1, 11.

xviiC. J. Bulliet, “Around the Galleries: Findlay Medals Awarded ” Chicago Daily News, 7/20/1935, Art, Antiques and The Artists section, p.9. The prize was awarded his Corn Dance.

xviiiEngaging With The Present: The Contribution of the American Jewish Artists Club to Modern Art in Chicago 1928-2004, (Chicago: Spertus Museum, 2004), p.51.

xix“Past Members Exhibiting,” American Jewish Art Club Golden Anniversary Exhibition 1928-1978, (Chicago: American Jewish Art Club, 1978).

xxHis photograph with outdoor buyers appeared in Chicago Evening Post, 8/2/1932, Art Section, p.5.

xxiHis The Village, was illustrated in The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 1/21/1930, p.7. My Neighbors, in the 1/28/1930 issue, p.3.

xxiiEleanor Jewett, “Small Shops Sponsor Exhibits of Local Artists,” Chicago Tribune, 12/24/1933, part 8, p.6.

xxiiiEleanor Jewett, “Delightful Art Exhibits Enliven Holiday Season in Chicago,” Chicago Tribune, 11/30/1930, p.G6.

xxivEleanor Jewett, “Exhibition of Portraits Intrigues,” Chicago Tribune, 3/6/1932, part 8, p.4.

xxv“Jewish Art and Music,” Chicago Evening Post, 2/23/1932, Art Section, p.6.

xxviHis Flowers in Composition, was illustrated in the Chicago Evening Post, 6/21/1932, Art Section, p.9.

xxviiMarguerite B. Williams, “Brilliant Shows Appear as Spring Strikes the Galleries: By Chicago Artists ,” Chicago Daily News, 5/22/1929 , in AIC Scrapbooks, Vol. 56, p.86.

xxviiiC. J. Bulliet, “What’ll We Do With It: An Inquiry Into the Future of Modern Art,” The Chicagoan, February 1932, p.43.

xxixCatalog Of Paintings By Artist Members Of The Neoterics, (Chicago: Neoterics, 5/7/1936).

xxxMarguerite B. Williams, “Brilliant Shows Appear as Spring Strikes the Galleries: By Chicago Artists ,” Chicago Daily News, 5/22/1929 , in AIC Scrapbooks, Vol. 56, p.86.

xxxiHis Corn Dance, was illustrated in Chicago Daily News, 1/19/1935, Art, Antiques and The Artists section, p.6.

xxxii“Emil Armin,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 11/30/1926, p.3. The show was extensively reviewed by J. Z. Jacobson, “Thirty-five Saints – and Emil Armin,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 12/7/1926, pp.1, 14, the title later used as a title for a book on the artist by Jacobson published by L. M. Stein of Chicago. The book is described by C. J. Bulliet, “Emil Armin Done Into An Ambitious Art Monograph,” The

Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 12/17/1929, pp.1, 16. His sculpture Meditation was illustrated in the 12/28 issue, p.5. Jacobson had determined Armin was one of thirty-six saints who held up the world, hence the title, thirty-five saints and … He explained this a bit further in “Our Little Group of Serious Talkers,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 1/18/1927, pp.8, 12. Armin’s portrait of Jacobson appeared in the 10/4 issue, p.4.

xxxiiiTom Vickerman, “Katz and Armin in One-Man Shows,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 2/12/1929, p.2.

xxxivJ. Z. Jacobson, “Armin’s Art and Some Curious Ladies,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 8/5/1930, pp.1, 2. “Emil Armin In One Man Show July 24,” Rockford Register Star, 7/12/1930, in AIC Scrapbooks, Vol. 57, p.129. Eleanor Jewett, “Snow Pictures Offer Contrast at Art Show,” Chicago Tribune, 7/24/1930, p.12. Marguerite B. Williams, “Five Chicagoans Have Paintings on Exhibition,” Chicago Daily News-Journal, 7/28(?)/1930, in AIC Scrapbooks, Vol. 57, p.134.

xxxv“Pouialis and Armin,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 4/15/1930, p.2.

xxxvi“Emil Armin,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 7/1/1930, p.2.

xxxviiEleanor Jewett, “Plenty of Mystery in Art Display at Robinson Gallery,” Chicago Tribune, 10/21/1930, p.31.

xxxviii“Around the Galleries: Show of Four Artists,” Chicago Daily News, 12/17/1932, Art and Artists section, p.7.

xxxixEleanor Jewett, “Art Institute Displays 15th Century Bust,” Chicago Tribune, 3/19/1944, p.F4. http://www.renaissancesociety.org/exhibitions/115/emil-armin-paintings-in-oil-watercolors-and-woodcuts/ accessed 1/14/2018.

xlThe exhibition is reviewed in, “Emil Armin - a natural expressionist whose main subject was Chicago, where he lived,” Chicago Sun-Times, 12/29/1972.

xliAlan G. Artner, “Out Of The Past, Size of exhibition reflects Emil Armin’s considerable influence,” Chicago Tribune, 8/24/1995, p.58A.

xliiHis The Open Bridge was illustrated in Chicago Modern 1893-1945, (Chicago: Terra Museum and University of Chicago Press, 2004), 85.

xliiiFor an interesting review of his early work see: Riva Putnam, “Emil Armin and His Ecstatic Art,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 11/17/1925, p.5. Several works are illustrated.

xlivJ. Z. Jacobson, Art of Today. Chicago 1933, (Chicago: L. M. Stein, 1933), p.40.

xlvLlewellyn Jones, “The Art Of Emil Armin,” Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 1/30/1930. One of his “striking” portraits in modernism was illustrated in the 11/27/1927 issue, p.10.

xlviA whimsical caricature found in “The Parade of Chicago Artists to the No-Jury Artists Cubist Ball,” Chicago Literary Times, Vol. 1, 9/15/1923.