Alton S. Tobey, renowned artist
deb...@comcast.net
Thu Jan 13, 7:00 AM ET
(PRWEB) January 13, 2005 -- Internationally renowned artist Alton S.
Tobey, a long time resident of Larchmont, New York; creator of dozens
of murals at the Smithsonian Institution (news - web sites) and many
other public places worldwide; thousands of illustrations for books and
other publications; and a founder of the Curvilinear school of
Painting, died on Tuesday, January 4th after a long illness.
Tobey was publicly best known for the murals, which he called
"symphonies of painting". They were the first works for which he
achieved national acclaim after graduating and teaching art at Yale
University. Today, his murals grace the halls of the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington DC; The MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, VA.,
The Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum in New York and dozens of other
public buildings throughout the world.
Tobey was a distinguished historian and art educator, and served on
numerous non-profit organizations, where he regularly donated his time
and talents. He held the office of president in The National Society of
Mural Painters, Artist's Equity of New York and The Mamaroneck Artist's
Guild; and was the recipient of many art awards including the WPA
Murals Award, The Edwin Abbey Mural Award, The Lindner Memorial Award;
and others from Grumbacher, The Westchester Society and The Westchester
Council for The Arts, to name a few.
His dedication to research, science and history spawned a career as an
illustrator for LIFE magazine; 350 paintings for The Golden Books
History of the United States and for paintings in dozens of other books
and periodicals. In a May 1976 feature article in American Artist
magazine, Tobey's historical paintings were described as works of
"loving accuracy," and Tobey as an artist of "...insatiable curiosity,
diligent investigation, well developed powers of visualization, and
consummate craftsmanship."
Although his historical work recreated thousands of figures from the
past; Tobey also did many portraits of his contemporaries. His Brothers
United, of John F. and Robert Kennedy; and his Apollo II Astronauts
were made into prints and were loved and collected by millions
worldwide. On portraits, Tobey said: "In creating a portrait of someone
- whether painted, sculpted, drawn or photographed, we must look
carefully to catch that particular unique [personal quality. In fact,
we can neglect nothing." Many of his other works were reproduced in
both limited and open editions by Scafa Tournabene, The Franklin Mint,
Royal Doulton and other art print and collectibles publishers.
As a Modernist painter, he was a founder of the Curvilinear school of
painting based upon the theories of Albert Einstein. He had dozens of
one-man exhibitions of his Curvilinears, his Fragments paintings, and
his dimensional conceptual works in museums and galleries both locally
and internationally. Over 400 of his paintings from every period of the
six decades of his work, and a detailed illustrated biography of Tobey
are on his website, launched just this past November to celebrate his
90th birthday, at http://www.altontobey.org. Tobey is survived by his
son David, who is also a painter, and a musician; by his daughter Judy
who lives in Chicago; and by his grandchildren Andrew and Elizabeth.
Services were held in Mamaroneck, New York on Friday, January 7th.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the fund established
by the Mamaroneck Artist Guild to nurture and encourage young artists:
The Alton S. Tobey Scholarship Fund, c/o Mamaroneck Artist Guild; 2120
Boston Post Road; Larchmont, NY 10538. Make check payable to MAG and
notate "Tobey Fund" in the memo section. Messages of sympathy to the
family that will be posted on the late artist's website may be
addressed to: webm...@altontobey.org .