biographie de Michael WEST (1908-1991)

Birth place: Chicago, IL

Death place: NYC

Addresses: NYC, 1939-91/second residences in Stonington, CT, 1950s & Montclair, NJ, weekends

Profession: Painter, poet

Studied: Cincinnati Conservatory Music, 1920s; Cincinnati Art Acad., 1927-30, with Kate Reno Miller, Herman Wessel, John Weis, Frank Meyers; ASL, 1931-34, with Hans Hofmann, Raphael Soyer; A. Gorky, 1932-46 (mentor); R. Pousette-Dart, 1946-48

Exhibited: Rochester AC, 1935 (solo); Rochester Mem. Gal., 1935, 1939, 1941, 1943; Pinacotheca Gal., NYC, 1945; Rose Fried Gal., NYC, 1948; Stable Gal., NYC, 1953; Uptown Gal., NYC, 1957 (solo); Dominoe Gal., NYC, 1957 (solo), 1964; Lincoln Center, NYC, 1975; Pollock-Krasner House, East Hampton, LI, 1996 (solo)

Work: Pollock-Krasner House, East Hampton, LI; WMAA

Comments: Was part of the New York School of Abstract Expressionists and a close associate of Gorky. Her work of the 1940s and 1950s used form as a way of expressing energy. Her full name was Corrine Michael West; she was known as Corinne West through 1935; Mikael West, 1936-40; and Michael West from 1941 until her death. During the 1950s, she was sometimes known as Michelle Lee.

Sources: info, including clippings, courtesy Stuart Friedman, Granite Springs, NY.