The Art of Symeon Shimin

The Art of Symeon Shimin

With text from Symeon Shimin, Edited and Curated by Tonia Shimin

From Hollywood to Beloved Children’s Book Illustrator to 

Muralist and Painter of Justice, Symeon Shimin Left His Mark and a Legacy that Resonates Today 

The Art of Symeon Shimin presents a striking collection of the fine art of this exceptional Russian born Jewish artist. Curated by the artist's daughter, it is the first collection and overview of Shimin’s work. Including an autobiography by the artist, essays by noted arts journalists Josef Woodard and Charles Donelan, over 100 plates and archival photographs, this book showcases art of rare beauty and raw expression.Recognized as an award winning illustrator of 57 children’s books, two of his own authoring, Shimin, 1902-1984, was also one of the most highly regarded artists creating posters for Hollywood films, including the original poster for Gone With the Wind and the 40 ft. canvas for Solomon and Sheba. Most notably he was acclaimed for his masterpiece, the mural Contemporary Justice and the Child, commissioned in 1936-1940, by the PWAP, Public Works Arts Project, for the Department of Justice Building, Washington, DC, where it stands today. Chaim Gross stated in 1973, “Shimin is a painter who knows the craft of drawing and painting which in his hands becomes great art.” With paintings held in collections including the Chrysler Museum of Art, this is the first complete collection of his fine art.

We are proud to announce that The Art of Symeon Shimin has been awarded:

★The Independent Press Awards named The Art of Symeon Shimin the Distinguished Favorite for Fine Arts, 2020.

★Winner of 2020 NYC Big Book Award in Arts and Entertainment

★Winner of The 2021 Book Excellence Award for Art

★Winner Pinnacle Book Achievement Award from National Association of Book Entrepreneurs (NABE)

★The 2021 Eric Hoffer Honorary Mention Award for Art.

★ 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist. Art

★ 2021 IPPY Award Winner Bronze Medal Award for Fine Art

★ 2022 First Prize Art Book, North Street Book Prize

★ 2022 Maincrest Book Award

"This coffee-table style volume (9.6 x 0.7 x 11.7 inches) is an impressively informative presentation that clearly and effectively showcases the life and work of one of the 20th Century's most gifted artists -- and should be considered an essential and core addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university fine arts collections."—Midwest Book Review

“Symeon Shimin was a vessel for the unheard voices of his time. Those who were shunned, he highlighted; for those who were unseen, he provided a stage. He saw the common man for what he was – beautiful, exceptional, and equal.” -Lauren Kinsley, Research Editor

As a dancer Tonia Shimin performed in the companies of Martha Graham, Jose Limón, Pearl Lang, The Ypsilanti Greek Theater and as a soloist with Anna Sokolow's Player's Project, Mary Anthony Dance Theater and Repertory West Dance Company. She has had an extensive teaching career in the United States and abroad. Her choreographic works have appeared in the United States, the Czech Republic, Russia, Germany, Turkey, Switzerland, Greece, Italy and Mexico.  An award winning dance filmmaker, for among others the documentary Mary Anthony: A life in Modern Dance, her awards have included support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Santa Barbara Dance Alliance. Currently she is Professor Emerita of the Department of Theater Dance at the University of California, Santa Barbara and continues her creative work in the USA and abroad. Most recently she has curated, edited and with Mercury Press International published the award winning book, The Art of Symeon Shimin, on the remarkable work of her father, whose fine art is here shown in a collection for the first time.

Joe Woodard is an arts journalist-critic for among other journals, The Santa Barbara Independent. He is a musician and  VP for the  record company (Household Ink Records). Skilled in music, film and art criticism, arts journalism and interviewing (for newspapers, magazines, books, social media and blogging), music composition and performance. As a veteran, active musician he is a songwriter, guitarist, singer involved in various bands, and recording for the independent, Santa Barbara-based Household Ink Records, founded in 1987 and with 41 titles as of 2020. Woodard's current projects include Headless Household, flapping, Flapping, his solo artist persona, Dudley and others. (www.householdink.com).

Charles Donelan has been writing about theater, music, dance, education, and the visual arts in Santa Barbara since 2002. He has served as the executive arts editor at the Santa Barbara Independent since 2004. From 2017-20, he created weekly segments on arts and entertainment events in Santa Barbara for KCRW radio. In 2021 he was a finalist for the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers grant. As an educator, Donelan taught at Laguna Blanca School from 2004-21 and the UCSB Writing Program from 2001-04. He holds degrees from Yale (B.A.) and Columbia (Ph.D., english and comparative literature). He published the book “Romanticism and Male Fantasy in Lord Byron’s Don Juan: A Marketable Vice” (Macmillan/St. Martins) in 2000. Presently he is the Senior Writer/ Publicist for Arts & Lectures at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“By far the larger part of contemporary painting fails to excite me. I keep looking hopefully for something that will open my eyes and understanding to a new conception of art expression. And I found it the other day in Washington, on the third floor of the Department of Justice. The painter’s name Symeon Shimin, meant nothing to me, but unless I am hopelessly sunk in the swirling sea of art appreciation, that name will mean something in the long history of painting.  The subject is “Contemporary Justice and the Child.” The medium tempera on canvas. Any attempt of mine to describe it in words would be as futile as a Baedeker description of Mona Lisa. It is good.”