Peter Krasnow (20 August 1886 – 30 October 1979), born Feivish Reisberg, was a modernist and colorist artist known for his abstract wood sculptures and architectonic hard-edge paintings and drawings which were often based on Hebrew calligraphy and other subjects related to his Jewish heritage. Krasnow lived in Los Angeles for most of his life.
Early life and education Born in 1886 in Novohrad-Volynskyi, Russian Empire, he was an apprentice to his father, who was an interior decorator. Krasnow emigrated to the United States in 1907 and graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1916.
Career Krasnow first exhibited in the 1920s. He settled in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1922, purchasing the land where he built his home and studio from Edward Weston, who was his friend and a fellow member of the early Los Angeles avant-garde. Krasnow lived there for over 50 years. His work was included in the exhibit that launched MOCA. He received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1977.
Death Kransnow died on 30 October 1979 at 93.
Exhibitions 1922, Whitney Studio Club, New York (solo) 1922, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles 1923, MacDowell Club, Los Angeles (solo) 1926, The Print Rooms, Los Angeles 1927, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles 1927, Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco 1928, Oakland Municipal Art Gallery, Oakland (solo) 1928, Seattle Society of Fine Arts, Seattle (solo) 1928, Dalzell Hatfield Gallery, Los Angeles (solo) 1928, Zeitlin Bookstore, Los Angeles (solo) 1929, Scripps College, Claremont (solo) 1930, Stendahl Galleries, Los Angeles (solo) 1931, California Palace of Legion of Honor, San Francisco (solo) 1934, Galerie Pierre, Paris (solo) 1935, UCLA, Los Angeles 1935, The Print Rooms, Los Angeles 1935, California Pacific International Expo, San Diego 1939, Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego 1940, Stendahl Galleries, Los Angeles (solo) 1940, UCLA, Los Angeles 1954, Pasadena Art Institute, Pasadena 1964, Scripps College, Claremont (solo) 1975, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles 1976, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco 1977, Judah L. Magnes Museum, Berkeley 1978, Skirball Museum, Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles 1986, 1989, 1991, and 1993, Tobey C. Moss Gallery, Los Angeles 2023, Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles
Artistic legacy In 2000, the Laguna Art Museum acquired over 500 pieces of his work. The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles also has an extensive collection of Krasnow's work and in 2023 mounted the exhibition, Peter Krasnow: Breathing Joy and Light, which focused on the artist's post–World War II paintings.
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