SIGMUND ABELES

ABELES--Sigmund Morton. Noted figurative artist Sigmund Morton Abeles passed away on December 21, 2025, of natural causes. He was 91 years old. He is survived by his daughter, Shoshanna Abeles, and his sons, David Abeles and Maxwell Abeles. He was preceded in death by his former wife, Gina Godwin Abeles. His marriages to Carolyn May and Friedrike Merck ended in divorce. He is also survived by his longtime companion, Nora M. Lavori; his cousin, Harriet Hollander of Florida; and other beloved extended family members. Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Abeles was brought to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, at the age of two by his mother, Henrietta Banner Abeles, who ran a rooming house on the road snowbirds took to Florida. One of his earliest memories was watching a car carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Bernard Baruch drive along the road in front of his home. A talented artist from a young age, he learned to draw from Life magazine and through visits to Brookgreen Gardens, where he drew figures from the many classical sculptures in their collection. As a student at the University of South Carolina in the early 1950s, Mr. Abeles participated in Civil Rights protests and received his degree in absentia. He attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine and later graduated from Columbia University with an MFA. After serving as an illustrator in the Army in Heidelberg, Germany, Mr. Abeles taught studio art at the Swain School in Rhode Island, Wellesley College, and Boston University. He was Professor Emeritus at the University of New Hampshire, where he taught from 1970 to 1987. Mr. Abeles was a lover of animals, especially horses and dogs. While living in New Hampshire, he owned horses and rode daily - sometimes bareback - with his beloved dog, Kaethe, at his side. A talented gardener, both in New Hampshire and at his home and studio (once a firehouse) in Columbia County, NY, he loved rooting around in the soil. In the mid-1990s, Mr. Abeles and his family moved to New York City. After the attacks of September 11, he joined the Parks Mounted Patrol, saying it was "to protect my city." Known as a virtuoso draftsman, Mr. Abeles' work was figurative. He said, "If it doesn't have two eyes, I don't paint it." His work was realistic, with an expressionist cast. His friend, the late poet Charles Simic, wrote, "His art is Dionysian. He practices a passionate identification with his subject." Mr. Abeles was honored by his profession on numerous occasions, including a retrospective at The Century Association in 2019 and the Clinedinst Award from the Artists' Fellowship in 2017. He was elected to the National Academy of Design as a printmaker in 1977. His print Self Portrait with Cats was chosen for the Whitney Biennial in 1966. He was also a sculptor, worked in oils, and eventually gravitated to pastels. His work is held in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Boston Public Library, the Gibbs Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina, the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, South Carolina, the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio, and numerous academic, regional, and private collections. He was known as a gifted teacher and remained in touch with his students long after retirement. He served as a guest lecturer, visiting artist, and juror at dozens of arts institutions. He was a member of the faculty of the Art Students League through the winter of 2020. His archives are held at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. Burial was held at the Chatham Rural Cemetery in Chatham, NY, under the care of French, Gifford, Preiter & Blasl Funeral Home. Condolences may be sent to sigmund.m.abeles@gmail.com and donations in his memory may be made to Brookgreen Gardens, the Art Students League, or the Kaplan Family Residence Hospice in Newburgh, NY.