THE ART OF SYMEON SHIMIN on We Deserve Better - DrD

The Art of Symeon Shimin is the first and only collection of the fine artwork of this exceptional artist. This beautiful coffee table book was curated and edited by his daugher, Tonia. He was a Russian-born Jewish artist, who was deeply involved with justice and the human condition. This book includes his artwork, archival photographs, his autobiography Metamorphosis: The Early Years and essays by other arts writers.

He became an artist at a young age, although he had no idea how or why it happened as he had wanted to be a musician. After he was told he was not allowed to do that, he began to draw for the 1st time in his life, and continued throughout his life. The significance of that transformation, when he was 11 years old, is that from the beginning, he drew as an adult does, not as a child.

He was drawn to people as subjects his entire life.  He was fascinated by the teeming life around him in NY city. Peoples' "haunting faces and their dignity never left me," he says. He painted large-scale posters for Hollywood films (including the original poster for the film Gone With the Wind). In 1936, he was awarded a contract by the PWAP, Public Works Art Project, to paint a mural, Contemporary Justice and The Child, in the department of Justice building in Washington, DC. It took him 4 years to complete and it can still be seen today. Beginning in 1950, he became an award-winning illustrator of children's books illustrating 57 books for children, including two that he also authored. Throughout his life, he painted canvases that have been exhibited at numerous museums and galleries.

The collection of his artwork will be discussed by his daughter, Tonia Shimin, tonight.