Alexander Minewski

American (1917-1979)

Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1917, Alexander Minewski had a colorful entrance into the world of art. He left home at the age of fourteen, joined the circus, worked as a sign painter and logger, and fought in World War II. While recovering from injuries suffered during the war, Minewski began studying art with Hans Hofmann in New York. Hofmann’s abstract expressionism had a profound effect on Minewski, and this influence can be seen in many of his paintings. Minewski also studied at the Art Student League with Ernest Fiene, Jean Charlot and George Grosz. He was a member of the Woodstock Art Association, and exhibited his works at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Columbia Museum of Art and the National Academy of Design. In 1966, Minewski was appointed professor of art at the State University of New York in New Paltz. Works by Minewski can be found in the permanent collections of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and the Detriot Institute of Art.
 
Minewski spent many summers painting on Monhegan Island, Maine, where he met his wife, Natalie, also an artist.