Anton Refregier (American, b. Russia (1905–1979)

Anton Refregier (American, b. Russia, 1905-1979) moved from his home city of Moscow to Paris and then to New York in 1920. He worked in a factory before earning a scholarship to the Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied until 1925. He returned to New York and worked commercially, producing inexpensive copies of famous paintings for interior decorators until 1927. He then returned briefly to Europe to study in Munich. Back in New York, Refregier lived in the Mount Airy artists’ colony on Croton-on-Hudson. He wanted to paint murals, and in 1936, the Federal Art Project of the Works Project Administration (WPA) hired him for $23.86 per week. For the WPA, he created murals at Greenpoint Hospital... more.