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Maxim M Elias

b. appx 1916-- d.1967

Artist and sculptor Maxim was born in St. Petersburg, Russia.  He arrived in San Francisco with his parents as a toddler after a journey on the TransSiberian Rail Road, trekking through Siberia, China and Japan at the outbreak of the Russian Revolution.

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  After graduating High School at 14, Maxim assisted his father at the Smithsonian Museum  of Natural History in Washington D.C. (notably helping to stuff the exotic new hippopotumus), while waiting to be old enough to enroll in college.  He then got a B.A. at the University of Kansas, where his father was a professor, and an advanced scientific degree at the University of Iowa.

He began exhibiting sculpture and winning art awards while at college, studying art at K.U. with Albert Blach and Bernard Frazier, and with Emil Ganzo and Fletcher Martin at I.U.  During WWII, while working as a civilian in Europe with the U.S. army, Maxim studied drawing at the Ruskin Drawing School of Fine Art in Oxford England (University of London).  After returning to the States, he studied with Heinz Warneke at the Corcoran Gallery of Fine Art in Washington D.C.

He continued to exhibit and win many awards in Corcoran shows over the years, notably in 1948  first prize in sculpture with his FOUR PIECES OF OAK in a show curated by Alfred H. Barr Jr. (of Museum of Modern Art fame).  His WOMAN IN CHAIR was exhibited in New York City at the Sculpture Center associated with the Museum of Modern Art in a show of 10 new artists, and he exhibited widely in the Washington D.C. area from the late 1940's through the early 1960's, at the National Gallery of Art (Smithsonian) Rotunda, the Corcoran  Gallery of Art, the Artists Guild of Washington D.C., the Sculptor's Gallery, the Obelisk Gallery in Georgetown, the Barnett Aden Gallery, the Franz Bader Gallery, Pan American Union/Artists Guild, the Washington Sculptors Group-Kiln Club, the Society of Washington Artists, and the Georgetown Day School summer art fairs (along with well-known artists David Smith, Pietro Lazzaro, and Ken Noland), among other venues. He also exhibited in Baltimore, Newark, and Philedelphia.

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His commissioned works include a large sculpture of an angel mounted on a building in S.E. Washington D.C. for collector Irving Biow.  Other of Maxim's works are in private collections including those of Mr. and Mrs. C.V. Whitney, and Jack and Cottie Dobbs.

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He often showed with D.C. painter (and friend) Dante Radice, and shared a duo show in Washington D.C. with his painter wife Myra Elias in 1958.  In the 1960's he and his son, sculptor Max K Elias, often both exhibited in the same shows in the Washington D.C. area.

SELECTED AWARDS:

Corcoran Museum of Art-- Sculptors of Virginia, Washington and Maryland 1948
FIRST PRIZE sculpture (BEST IN SHOW) "Four Pieces of Oak"
 judged by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., the first director of 
the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City

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Washington Sculptor's Group--Kiln Club 1951

FIRST PRIZE sculpture "Head of Ethyl Butler" 

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Society of Washington Artists 1948

FIRST PRIZE sculpture "Reclining Figure in Beaten Lead"

 

Selected awarding winning artworks: "Shy Girl"1945, "Arkose" 1951, "Guitar Player" 1951, "Nymph" 1947, "Venus on the Half Shell" 1938, "Woman and Chair" 1952, "Red Stone Head" and others.
 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

Baltimore Museum of Art, 1943,

Corcoran Museum of Art (repeatedly in Annual Area Exhibitions from late 1940's through 1960), Washington D.C.

Smithsonian/The National Collection of Fine Arts/ Rotunda shows (repeatedly from late 1940's through 1962), Washington D.C.

The Society of Washington Artists (repeatedly from late 1940's through 1960's)

Museum of Modern Art/the Sculpture Center, New York City

Philadelphia Academy of Art (PAFA), 1948

Pan American Union/ Artists Guild of Washington, D.C. 1949

Washington Sculptors Group-Kiln Club of Washington; Washington DC, 1951

The Artists Guild of Washington at the Watkins Gallery, American University, 1953

The Obelisk Gallery, Washington D.C., 1960's

The Sculptor's Gallery, Washington DC, 1958

The Barnett Aden Gallery, Washington DC,1961  

Intransit Gallery, Washington D.C., 1949

Peabody Library, Georgetown (Washington D.C.), 1948

Georgetown Day School summer art fairs (repeatedly from 1950's through early 1960's)

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Artshow Highlights

FOUR PIECES OF OAK

Maxim M Elias's"Four Pieces of Oak" wins first prize in the Corcoran Gallery of Art exhibition 1948 in show curated by Alfred H. Barr Jr. of NYC Museum of Modern Art.

FOUR PIECES OF OAK
WOMAN IN CHAIR

Maxim M exhibits his sculpture "Woman and Chair" in New York City's Sculpture Center's Spring Exhibition 1952

WOMAN IN CHAIR
ANGEL 
ANGEL

Maxim M's sculpture of an angel in beaten copper installed 1953 on an apartment building in Washington D.C. for collector Irving Biow.  Now lost and in possession of another collector.

AVAILABLE FOR purchase

    PRESS & PROGRAM ARCHIVES

    MAXIM M ELIAS

    PRESS & PROGRAM ARCHIVES

    Various art shows exhibiting

    Maxim M Elias artwork from 1938 to the early 1960's.

    ARCHIVES

    The amazing artwork of Maxim M Elias created between 1940 and 1960, which have been sold, or otherwise are no longer available for sale through this site.

    Memory Lane

    Maxim M Elias in his 20's

    Maxim M Elias in his 20's

    Studio portrait of Maxim M as a graduate student

    Maxim M and wife Myra Elias

    Maxim M and wife Myra Elias

    Post WWII, Max and Myra pose in their living room in Washington D.C.

    Maxim M in Alaska in cold weather

    Maxim M in Alaska in cold weather

    Maxim M on wartime mission in Alaska during WWII.

    Maxim M in his mid-30's

    Maxim M in his mid-30's

    Maxim M in Arlington Va.

    Maxim M in Arlington Va.

    Maxim smokes a cigarette outside the Va. family apartment

    Maxim M in Europe

    Maxim M in Europe

    Maxim M photographed in Europe during WWII while working on a project for the U.S. Army Geological Survey

    Maxim M at cocktail party

    Maxim M at cocktail party

    Maxim M reaches for a beverage in Georgetown

    Portrait of Maxim M smoking

    Portrait of Maxim M smoking

    Portrait of Maxim M with moustache painted on wood by daughter Alix Elias (age 5)

    Maxim M Elias winning award

    Maxim M Elias winning award

    Maxim M a winner in his 40's.

    Maxim M Elias at art show with friend

    Maxim M Elias at art show with friend

    Maxim M chatting up patron of the arts at art show opening

    Maxim M rides bicycle

    Maxim M rides bicycle

    A youthful Maxim M attempts to bicycle around London during the Blitz WWII

    Myra and Maxim M at Mardigras

    Myra and Maxim M at Mardigras

    New Orleans Mardigras in the 1950's. Maxim M and Myra in costume as Harlequin figures.

    Maxim M with artist friends

    Maxim M with artist friends

    Artists Maxim M, Robert Yampolski, Myra Elias, and Dante Radice explore romantic ruins in W. Va.

    Maxim M on top of derelict train

    Maxim M on top of derelict train

    Maxim M poses on train with artists Robert Yampolsky and Myra Elias in W. Va. outing.

    Maxim M and Myra in their 20's

    Maxim M and Myra in their 20's

    Young marrieds in photo booth.

    Maxim M and son Max K Elias

    Maxim M and son Max K Elias

    Maxim M with baby Max K in 1940.

    Very young marrieds in the snow

    Very young marrieds in the snow

    Maxim M and Myra Elias pose outdoors in Winter wearing furry hoods.

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