Elie Nadelman

Elie Nadelman was a Polish-American sculptor, born in Warsaw, Poland in 1882. He studied briefly in Warsaw, then left for Munich where he found inspiration for classical sculpture. He then settled in Paris for about a decade where he had his first solo exhibition in 1909 at the Galerie Druet, Paris which consisted of plaster and bronze classical female heads, standing nudes and mannered Cubist drawings. He then immigrated to the United States, where he became a citizen in 1927. This is where he met his wife and together they built a collection of folk art and put together the Museum of Folk Art in Riversdale, New York. His own work was influenced by folk art while still having influence of classical style. During his living years, he did not receive much acknowledgement for his work, as the art world did not seem to be interested in him at the time. This, combined with the Great Depression had Madelman struggling financially. Nadelman was forced to sell his collection of folk art. In addition, much of his work was destroyed or damaged due to improper storage and shipping. All of these factors put a lot of weight on Nadelman and he took his own life in 1946.

Since his death, his reputation has grown, a short time after his death his work Man in the Open Air was restored and featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His work went on to be a part of many private and public collections including  the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Philadelphia Art Museum and more.