Boris Deutsch – The Tailor [1927]

Born in Lithuania, Boris Deutsch (Krasnagorka, Russia, 1892 – Los Angeles, California, 1978) deserted from the Russian army at the beginning of World War I and fled the country. He studied art briefly in Latvia and for three years in various Berlin academies before immigrating to Seattle in 1916. Three years later he made his way to Los Angeles, where he became a successful commercial artist and worked for Paramount Pictures in the special effects department. He also taught advanced painting at Otis Art Institute for about six years. During the early part of the Depression he worked for the federal Resettlement Project, travelling to various states to sketch workers being resettled onto farms. That controversial program only lasted a year and a half. In 1939 he won a commission for a New Mexico post office mural through the prestigious national 48-State Competition sponsored by the U.S. Treasury Department. In 1941 he did another post office mural in Reedley, California.

[Oil on canvas, 76.0 x 101.6 cm]