© Artist Estate/ Art Institute of Chicago. Photograph and digital image © Delaware Art Museum. …

Ivan Albright

American painter, 1897–1983

BiographyIvan Albright is best known for his incredibly detailed paintings of disturbing subject matter. Ivan and his identical twin brother Malvin (also an artist) were born and raised near Chicago, and both attended the Art Institute of Chicago. Albright studied architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and made medical drawings during World War I. After the war, he worked in architecture and advertising before turning seriously to painting in the mid-1920s. He achieved notice rather quickly, having his first solo show in 1930. Albright worked meticulously, and his paintings often took years to complete. Albright's paintings often present disturbing meditations on weighty issues, including death, decay, corruption, and the passage of time, and his work has been associated with Magic Realism. In 1943 he was commissioned to create the title painting for the film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray," and the resulting painting is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Albright's work is represented in most major American art museums, and a large collection of work and archival materials are housed at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Person TypeIndividual

Terms