George Schneeman

George Schneeman (March 11, 1934 – January 27, 2009) was an American painter who lived in Tuscany, Italy, and New York City.

George Schneeman was born on March 11, 1934 in St. Paul, Minnesota. He received a B.A. in Philosophy and English Literature from St Mary’s College, Winona, Minnesota, and then began graduate work in English Literature at the University of Minnesota. He then enlisted in the army. Having shown an aptitude for languages, he was posted to Verona, Italy.

The following excerpt is from an autobiographical statement Schneeman wrote in 2007 on the occasion of an exhibition at the Instituto Italiano di Cultura:

I began painting, oddly enough, while on active duty in the U.S. Army, in Verona, Italy, 1958. Shortly thereafter I married [Katie Schneeman], was discharged from the service, and moved with my wife to rural Tuscany, where I remained for seven years, painting landscapes and figures. My attitudes toward painting were markedly shaped by early renaissance art, an influence that has never left me.

In Italy I eked out a living giving English lessons and teaching Italian and Art History to American colleges groups in Siena. With three children of our own, my wife and I, living in a farmhouse with neither electricity nor running water, led a secluded life, out of touch with contemporary art, but very much in touch with Sienese and Florentine art.

In 1966, when it came time to decide whether our three boys were going to grow up as Americans or Tuscan peasants, we moved to New York City, where we have lived ever since.

In Italy, Schneeman had met , a well known Italian artist who lived in Verona and with whom was born a deep and lasting friendship and with whom he shared the passion for painting and poetry. He also had met two young New York writers, Peter Schjeldahl and Ron Padgett. On his move to New York City, Schneeman immediately became part of a group of poets centered around the St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery and began to work extensively with them, painting many portraits of these poets, producing flyers for their readings, covers for their books and collaborating with them extensively. Schneeman is known for being one of the most prolific collaborators in a milieu frequently characterized by its collaborative spirit; over approximately forty years, he collaborated on hundreds of pieces of art with, amongst others, Ted Berrigan, Anne Waldman, Allen Ginsberg, Larry Fagin, Dick Gallup, Michael Brownstein, Lewis MacAdams, Alice Notley, Bill Berkson, Tom Clark, Steve Katz, Ted Greenwald and Lewis Warsh. Many of these collaborations were documented in Painter Among Poets: The Collaborative Art of George Schneeman, edited by Ron Padgett (Granary Books, 2004). Scheenman's artwork has been featured on Comes Through in the Call Hold, a recording with Clark Coolidge, Anne Waldman, and Thurston Moore, released by Fast Speaking Music.

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