Born in Ludvinovka in the Ukraine, Louis Lozowick became best known for his lithographs of skyscrapers, constructions, and machinery, a series spanning fifty years.
He attended the Kiev Art School from 1904 to 1906 and emigrated to the United States at age 14. In New York, he studied for three years at the National Academy of Design with Leon Kroll, attended Ohio State University, and between 1919 and 1924, traveled extensively throughout Europe, particularly Paris, Berlin, and Russia. Lozowick became one of the most highly regarded young artists in Berlin during the 1920’s, most noted for his lithographs of American cities that embodied the essence of the Machine Age. Fascinated by the technical and industrial achievements of the United States, European audiences admired Lozowick’s interpretations of the geometric architecture of modern urbanity - skyscrapers, smokestacks, elevated trains, and bridges of America.
From his experiences in Europe, Lozowick wrote and published a monograph on Russian Constructivism entitled “Modern Russian Art,” and once he returned to the United States, he did illustrations for the social reform periodical “New Masses.” He also translated for “Broom Magazine,” an international magazine of the arts that was first printed in Rome, then in Berlin, with the intention of bringing new avant-garde art back to America.
At the turn of the Great Depression, Lozowick became a muralist for the Public Works Art Project, painting his optimistic images onto city walls, and became involved in the aesthetic of Constructivism, making drawings of machine ornaments. He also toured the country extensively and did many lithographs from his travels including a 1932 lithograph of the Grand Canyon. In 1949, he settled in South Orange, New Jersey.
“A beautifully articulated synthesis of strong personal visions and an extraordinary command of black-and-white lithography remained constant. His prints have withstood the inevitable fluctuations of fashion and taste, and today are deservedly appreciated by both connoisseurs and a new generation as among the finest created in twentieth-century America.” - Flint, Janet. The Prints of Louis Lozowick: A Catalogue Raisonné