Marvin Israel

Who was Marvin Israel?

Marvin Israel, was born in Syracuse, New York, the son of Bessie and Harry Israel. He was an American artist, photographer, painter, teacher and art director from New York known for modern/surreal interiors, abstract imagery. Israel created sinister shadowy and exuberant interiors with implications of violence that was often sexual in nature. In 1950 he was a graduate student at Syracuse University and spent two years in Paris studying and painting. In 1952 he had his first one-man show at Galerie Arnaud, Paris, France. In 1953 was the start of his photographic period; studied design with Alexey Brodovitch. In 1955 he got his Masters of Fine Arts in graphic design from Yale; became art director for Seventeen Magazine. In 1956 he photographed Elvis. In 1960, he left photography as his main media to concentrate on drawing in charcoal, pastel and ink. From 1961 to 1963 he was fashion editor for Harper's Bazaar where he featured Richard Avedon, along with artists such as Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Larry Rivers, Andy Warhol, and established masters such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evans.