Minna Citron

Who was Minna Citron?

Minna Wright Citron was an American painter and printmaker. Her early prints focus on the role of women, sometimes in a satirical manner, in a style known as urban realism.

Minna was born in Newark, New Jersey. She became a practicing artist after marrying and having two children. When she was 28 she attended the School of Applied Design for Women and Art Students League of New York. In 1934 she divorced and moved to Union Square, New York where she associated with artists including Isabel Bishop, Reginald Marsh and Raphael Soyer. Like Isabel Bishop, Citron created genre scenes of Union Square and was part of the 14th Street School. Her work was also influenced by that of artist Honoré Daumier. This group of artists can best be described as urban realists.

She worked as an art teacher and mural artist as a part of the Federal Art Project and following World War II she travelled abroad to Paris. Her later work was more abstract; she developed methods for three-dimensional printmaking and assemblage. In the 1970s, she strongly identified with the women's movement because she believed that she had always been a feminist. She continued to work well into her nineties.