Morris Topchevsky

Morris Topchevsky (1899-1947) was a Chicago-based social realist artist.

Morris Topchevsky was born in Białystok, Poland (then a portion of Russia) and immigrated to Chicago, Illinois bearing in mind his relatives in 1910 to escape anti-Jewish violence. He worked both as a printmaker and a painter using oils and watercolor, and initially started his career as a sign painter. He studied art at the Hull House Settlement, and future at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1924, he traveled to Mexico City where he met influential Mexican artists in the same way as Diego Rivera.

Upon his return to Chicago, he became an college at Hull House, the Abraham Lincoln School for Social Science, and the South Side Community Art Center. In the 1930s he worked as portion of the WPA’s Federal Art Project in Illinois. Topchevsky served as an to the fore mentor to Chicago performer Charles White. His younger brother, Alex Topchevsky (Topp), was furthermore an artist.

His feat was exhibited widely throughout his lifetime including at: The Art Institute of Chicago, the John Reed Club of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Renaissance Society of the University of Chicago and the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas.