by Catherine Cole Weber
Fresno has been the home of several artists throughout the decades who were born here and went on to have successful art careers. These artists left the county to pursue their passions, but one artist who wasn’t born in Fresno went on to make it his home for his life’s work.
Henry Lion, a sculptor born in Fresno on August 11, 1900. He lived here before going to Los Angeles to study at the Otis Art Institute and then teaching sculpture classes at the Hollywood Art Center. He also competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics in the sculpture competition.
He created several sculptures in LA, including a statue that depicts a pioneer panning for gold during the 1849 California Gold Rush. The statue was created in 1925 and placed in LA’s Carthay Circle Neighborhood.
He continued to work in LA, teaching and sculpting, all the way to his passing on October 25, 1966.
Next is Helen Philips. Born in Fresno on March 3, 1913. She went on to study art at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1932, graduating in 1936.
Her work incorporated avant-garde art principles, as she joined the Atelier 17 print workshop based in Paris, which modeled itself after surrealist artists, such as Pablo Picasso.
Her surrealist influence can be seen in works such as the 1935 sculpture, Young Woman, which now resides in the SFMOMA’s art collection.
She passed away in New York City on January 23, 1995.
Next is Maynard Dixon. Born in Fresno on January 24, 1875, he studied at the California School of Design in San Francisco, where he worked for several years as a painter. He gained a reputation as “The Last Cowboy in San Francisco” due to his old-fashioned western fashion style that he wore in the increasingly urbanized San Francisco.
He traveled the southwest, painting scenes of the plains and deserts, such as seen in his 1943 painting, Thunder Over Shiprock, depicting the rock formation in New Mexico.
Dixon eventually settled down in Tucson, Arizona, as his home, passing away on January 24, 1875.
Lastly, is someone not born in Fresno, but someone who may have created one of the most famous sculptures in the County.
Varaztad Samuelian, also known as Varaz, was an Armenian man born in 1917. He was born in the capital city of Armenia to parents who survived the Armenian genocide that took place from 1915 to 1917.
He graduated from a fine arts college before being enlisted in the Soviet Army during WW2, where he served until he was captured by German soldiers and kept as a POW. He broke out of imprisonment and went on to serve the French resistance until the end of the war, after which he moved to the United States in 1946.
He lived in Burlingame, California, until moving to Fresno in 1946, where he began working as a sculptor and painter. Fresno itself has an Armenian community, and Varaz’s work depicts many themes of Armenian history, such as a 1948 painting depicting the Armenian Genocide.
His most famous piece is most likely the statue – David of Sassoon. It depicts an Armenian folk hero originating from the 7th century who defended Armenian land from invaders.
The sculpture weighs about two and a half tons and is about 18 feet tall. It is adorned with Armenian script that commemorates the statue to the Armenian community of the San Joaquin Valley.
The statue was created in 1970 and donated to Fresno, and has stood at the Fresno County Courthouse since then.
Varaz himself continued to live and work in Fresno all his life, until his passing on November 7, 1995.
I hope you learned something new about art and Fresno, and that you take a look at these artists and their work. These are just a few of the artists connected to Fresno, and there are many more out there waiting to be appreciated.
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