Harry Carmean's teacher Lorser Feitelson

The drawings above are by Lorser Feitelson, a well known abstract and figurative Los Angeles artist. It was no wonder that after walking in on Feitelson life drawing class at Art Center, that Harry Carmean's life was forever changed. The above examples show Feitelson's incredible skills in drawing the figure and in them we can see the root of Carmean's development as an artist. For my mind, these drawings show a complete understanding of the techniques of the European old masters but they are unique because they were done by an American artist in modern times. Feitelson had a large collection of old master drawings which was published in a catalogue and is available online.

Jack Albee mime who posed for Harry Carmean

One of Harry Carmean's favorite people to draw was the mime Jack Albee, who modelled at Art Center where Carmean taught. Jack was a member of the famous Albee theater family and had a face that artist's love to draw - full of character, wit and personality. The photo of him in costume was taken by Harry Carmean in the later 1960's at a party at his home in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles.  Jack Albee was an inspiring, upbeat person to be around and as can be seen here, he inspired some fantastic drawings and paintings from his friend Harry Carmean.

French Impressionism and the work of Harry Carmean

The influence of French Impressionism can be seen Harry Carmean’s paintings throughout the span of his entire career. The bottom painting (inspired by Renoir) was done in the 1950's and the top painting (with more of a Degas influence) in the 1980's. He continues to paint impressionistic paintings to this day, most recently concentrating a series of luminous ballet paintings.  Other Impressionistic artist that Carmean admired include the French painters Daumier, Gaugin, Lautrec, Vuillard, Bonnard and Cezanne.