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YMCA art director searching for clues on late Struthers artist
BOARDMAN
A collection of 28 paintings that languished in a closet, forgotten, for decades, has had an unexpected impact on two local women.
For Cecilia Newman, whose late husband, Ervin, painted the set of portraits of Hollywood movie stars in the 1940s, recent attention on the artwork has given her a renewed sense of purpose.
“It’s something that I just needed, and I didn’t have to take a pill. It’s just revived me, it really has,” said Newman, 90, of Poland.
For Suzanne Gray, arts coordinator at the YMCA in Boardman, the collection – recently donated to the Davis Family YMCA by Newman, and on display as the “Hooray for Hollywood” show through Aug. 31 – presents an intriguing mystery that she’s determined to solve.
“To me, it’s such a fascination. I’m an obsessive art person, so I will be so delighted to do research on this,” Gray said.
It all began when Newman – an avid Vindicator reader – came across an item promoting an art show Gray was organizing. In the middle of cleaning out her house, she decided to donate the paintings rather than tossing them.
She had kept them all these years, holding on to them, and other personal items, since her husband died in 1985 at age 62.
“I kept anything personal and precious,” she said.
But, recently stricken with some health ailments, she knew it was time to downsize the house that her husband had built for their family.
Gray was astounded when she saw the paintings.
Vivid, unique works incorporating techniques ahead of the time is how Gray described the collection, which includes portraits of Hollywood stars such as James Dean, Spencer Tracy and Gary Cooper.
The artwork is Warholesque, with bright colors popping out of the makeshift canvases – such as the back of a Struthers schools levy advertisement – on which Ervin brushed water-based tempera paint.
What Gray wants to find out is who or what influenced Newman.
Here’s what she knows: Newman was born in 1923 at his family’s home on Julian Street in Youngstown. The family later moved to Champion Avenue in Struthers, and Newman graduated from Struthers High School in 1941. He did all of his painting during or immediately after high school.
Especially intriguing to Gray is that Newman’s time at Struthers High School overlapped with that of world-renowned artist Paul Jenkins.
“We want to know if there’s any tie to Paul Jenkins. And of course, where [Newman] got his inspiration. Who was his teacher?” asked Gray. She’s asking anyone who remembers Newman to call her at the YMCA at 330-480-5656 or to email her at sgray@youngstownymca.org.
Cecilia Newman isn’t able to offer much insight into her husband’s artwork. Inexplicably, he never painted again after he completed the Hollywood actor collection and a few other pieces.
It seems that other pursuits simply got his attention.
Newman served in the Army, and then worked for many years at Youngstown Sheet & Tube in the open hearth department until 1977’s “Black Monday” layoffs.
He met Cecilia in 1945 at a roller arcade; they married the next year.
For the next 39 years, the couple lived what Cecilia describes as a picture-perfect life.
“I married what you would call a jewel,” she said. “He just was, I would say, a perfect guy. I was lucky enough to latch on to him.”
The couple raised two sons and traveled extensively. Ervin played baseball, was an avid fisher and active in his church.
Looking back on their life together, Cecilia grows wistful.
“It sounds like a fairy tale, doesn’t it?” she said.
Seeing the attention on his artwork – which will remain on display permanently at the YMCA – has invigorated her.
Cecilia doesn’t drive much anymore, but already has been to see the display several times since it went up last week.
And if a friend happens to be going to see it, she’d like a ride.
“I say, ‘If you’re coming by my house, pick me up, too!’”