Milton Berwin's (1925-2023) career as an artist spans 70 years of active work. He brought to that work a sharp awareness of contemporary artists, The Masters, current events and the Holocaust. The son of Polish immigrants who came to Brooklyn, New York, from Palestine in 1925, Milton's experience as a 19-year-old Jewish American soldier in Germany and France during World War II had a profound impact on his life, and is certainly evident in his paintings, drawings and wood sculptures.
Graduating from Parsons School of Design in 1949 under the G. I. Bill, he broke into the art world as a graphic designer. His earliest known published illustrations appeared in 1953 in several science fiction magazines. Milton joined a retail magazine publisher in 1963 and enjoyed a storied 32-year career. Teaching an art course at New York Institute of Technology, Milton advised his undergraduate students, "Don't fall in love with your work; be willing to tear it up or paint over it."
Retiring in 1995, Milton continued to explore the need to bear witness to what was happening in the world around him. Among his favorite reading subjects were contemporary spy thrillers and World War II-era European historical novels, visualizing images he could adapt to his art. The dad to three daughters, a great-great-granddad and long-time partner with Marianne Stewart, Milton continued to make art into his 98th year. |