Alex Yaworski (artist)

Summertime by Alex F. Yaworski, 1941

Alex F. Yaworski's parents, Anton and Anna, married right before the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. His father, Anton, was conscripted into the Czarist Army and maintained cavalry horses, while his mother, Anna was employed as a cook for a group of generals. Alex was born December 29, 1907. They immigrated to the United States through Canada when Alex was almost two years old and settled in Superior, Wisconsin[4] During his lifetime, Superior and environs were the subject matter of many of his paintings. He found fascination in the Northern Wisconsin scenic beauty as well as the waterfront shipyards, freight yards, and grain elevators of the Duluth/Superior Twin Ports region. As early as grade school, he was determined to become an artist. In 1927, he left Superior for Chicago, Illinois to attend The American Academy of Art. He graduated in 1931.[5] He taught life drawing while still a student and continued teaching there for a period of time after graduation.

Alex F. Yaworski at Little Manitou Falls, Pattison Park, WI

Yaworski's first full time job out of school was working in the art department of the Chicago Tribune. After a few years as an employee of the Tribune, he became a freelance artist and worked for Sears Roebuck and other clients. In the 1940s, he again became a full time employee but this time for Poster Products in Chicago. While there during World War II, Alex illustrated many posters and advertisements for the war bond effort. After the war, he returned to freelancing for multiple companies. From 1946 through 1954, he designed and illustrated Sears Roebuck’s Christmas Book covers.[6] From the 1950s into the 1980s, he did work for The DuPont Company,[7] Seagram Company,[8] Oscar Mayer, The Chicago Tribune,[9] The Bernard Picture Company,[10] American Artists Group[11] and many other organizations. In his time at the Oscar Mayer Company, he illustrated the character named Little Oscar. He also rendered various illustrations of Benjamin Franklin for the Benjamin Franklin retail stores. Yaworski created numerous paintings that were commissioned by the Chicago Tribune as covers for their "Sunday Tribune Magazine".[12] All during this time, Alex enjoyed a fine art career, creating paintings in Watercolor, Gouache, Casein, and Acrylic. These works were exhibited widely and a highlight of this career was having a painting included in the exhibition, “200 Years of Water Color Painting in America,” 1966-1967 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, NY.[13] Alex became a signature member of American Watercolor Society in 1953 and had paintings accepted in their annual juried exhibitions during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.[14][15]

Alex was doing work for Sears Roebuck when he met his then-to-be wife Maurine who was working in their advertising department.[16] She already had a daughter named Ernine from her previous marriage. Together, they formed a family of three when they got married in June,1936 and had son Don twelve years later. Maurine died in 1983 and in 1991 after spending over 60 years in Chicago, Alex moved to Kansas City, MO to be closer to his son. In his final years, he continued to paint and he enjoyed his visits to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Alex F. Yaworski died on March 25, 1997.[17]

• Featured in "Seascapes and Landscapes in Watercolor" edited by Norman Kent, Watson-Guptill, 1956[23]
• Included in articles featured in "American Artists Magazine," a Watson-Guptill publication [24]
• Featured in "Acrylic Watercolor Painting" by Wendon Blake, 1970, ISBN 0-8230-4640-0
• Featured in Watson-Guptill book "Watercolorists at Work," by Susan E. Meyer and Norman Kent, 1972, ISBN 0-8230-5690-2
• Cited in Book, "One Hundred Years, 1887-1987:Catalog of the Collection, Union League Club of Chicago" by Dennis J. Loy and Caroline Honig, 1987, LCCN 7-81198
• Included in the book "Watercolor: Let the Medium Do It" by Valfred Thelin and Patricia Burlin, Watson-Guptill, 1988, ISBN 0-8230-5667-8, CIP 88-21061
• Included in the book "Handmade Holiday Cards from 20th Century Artists" from the Collections of the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, by Mary Savig, Smithsonian Books, 2012, ISBN 978-1-58834-330-7

• 97th Annual Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society, New York, NY, 1964
• 49th Annual Hoosier Salon, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1973
• Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors, Old Forge, NY, 1984
• MidSouthern Watercolorists in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1974
• Midwest Watercolor Society in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, 1978
• Midwest Watercolor Society in Duluth, Minnesota, 1979
• Iowa Watercolor Society in Des Moines, Iowa, 1981
• 51st Annual Indiana Artists Club, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1983

• The Dagmar Haagstrom Tribble Purchase Prize for the American Watercolor Society [25]
• The Emily Goldsmith Award for the American Watercolor Society [26]
• Container Corporation Award for the Artists Guild of Chicago
• Naomi Lorne Memorial Award for the American Watercolor Society
• Honorary membership in the Artists Guild of Chicago
• Watercolor USA Purchase Award
• Watercolor USA Honor Society
• The Grumbacher Hyplar Award for the National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic
• The Gold Award for Calendars for The Graphic Arts Association
• Honorable Mention for the National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic
• Union League Artist Member Award for the Union League Civic & Arts Foundation
• Adirondack Wilderness Medal for the Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors
• Frank W. Chesrow Gold Medal for the Municipal Art League of Chicago
• Life member status in the American Watercolor Society
• Award of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement in Fine Art, Municipal Art League of Chicago
• AFY File included in the Artists File Initiative at the Spencer Art Reference Library, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri

• "One Hundred Years, 1887-1987: Catalog of the Collection, Union League Club of Chicago," by Dennis J. Loy, Caroline Honig, 1987, LCCN 87-81198

• https://collections.si.edu/search/detail/edanmdm:AAADCD_item_11850?q=Alex+F.+Yaworski+silkscreen+holiday+card&record=1&hlterm=Alex%252BF.%252BYaworski%252Bsilkscreen%252Bholiday%252Bcard&inline=true
• https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/376488524/
• https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/376539216/
• https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/372820766/
• https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/376490377/
• https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/376620001/
• https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/383799788/
• https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/370606406/
• https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/377212961/
• https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/376496230/
• https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/371172879/
• https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/371804894/
• https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/372100739/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artists%27_File_Initiative