About the artist:

Lionel S. Reiss, American painter, etcher and watercolorist began his career as a designer and illustrator, and held executive positions as Art Director in the advertising field, primarily with Paramount Studios. He is known for his creation of the "MGM Lion". In 1930 Reiss decided to devote his time to fine art, closed his New York studio and traveled the continent of Europe, North Africa or the Near East, hunting subject matter for his Jewish pictorial records. In 1938 his book "My Models Were Jews" was published. In addition to his work of Jewish content, Lionel Reiss has won distinction for his paintings of the American scene. His work has been included in exhibitions at the Carnegie Institute, Brooklyn Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles Museum Association, Cincinnati Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, National Academy of Design, Museum of Virginia Fine Arts, Baltimore Museum of Art, Audubon Artists, Southern States Art League, American Watercolor Society, Society of American Etchers, Museum of Modern Art, and more. Permanent collections include Columbia University, the Jewish Museum of the Jewish Theological Seminary, The Sinai Center of Chicago, The Brooklyn Museum, Bezalel Museum in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv Museum and the Ain Harod Museum (Israel). Books by the artist: "New Lights and Old Shadows" "My Models Were Jews" Source: Marilyn Klevit Fine Art, Inc.