Unique paintings of Morris Hirshfield, who began drawing out of boredom at 65

Many people in older age are hesitant to take up something new: they feel that they can not learn to do it the new good, no one will approve of the results of their efforts, and some may even raise a laugh. Morris Hirshfield — a vivid example of what fear the new in adulthood is not: almost every talent may be enthusiastic admirers, and even generous buyers.

Morris Hirshfield was born in 1872 into a Jewish family in Poland, on the territory of the former Russian Empire. At age 18 he emigrated to the United States, first worked as a tailor and a shoemaker, and then together with his brother he established his garment factory, which produced a coat and Slippers.

In 1935 he retired and bored. Fortunately he just in time remembered the old dream — to learn the art of painting. Without thinking long, he took up paints and brushes.

At that time in the fine arts has already said all the possible currents. Modernism, Suprematism, surrealism — anything the audience was no surprise. Morris Hirshfield was far from avant-garde achievements he tried to emulate the realistic art of the XIX century, but the result was the opposite.His paintings depicted women, cats, tigers, lions — and they are all reminiscent of the drawings made by children. No perspective, no chiaroscuro, but in them the unique charm of primitive art, as the art of primitive tribes. And someone found in his paintings and references to medieval art, heraldic images.

In 1939, just 4 years after the Hirschfield retired, two of his paintings were exhibited in new York's Museum of modern art (MOMA), and two years later there was held his solo exhibition of 30 paintings.

Hirshfild died in 1946, leaving 77 works. A large part is in the collections of new York MOMA and the National Museum of art Nouveau in Paris in the vaults of the Museum of modern art and a large private collection. The most expensive of his works, "Girl with dog" — was sold for 510 $ thousand Fans naive creativity Hirshfilda was the founder of surrealism Andre Breton, the "father of conceptualism" Marcel Duchamp and the great Piet Mondrian, as well as the famous gallery owner and collector Peggy Guggenheim.