Hopes and dreams and the love of his work is what holds the artist together in joyful moments and in adversity. John Nachorny, 1970

{HISTORY}

A working artist throughout his entire career, Polish-American painter John Nachorny (1908-1989) immigrated to the United States in 1912. Settling with his family in Cleveland, Ohio, he began studying art as a young boy through classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland School of Art. Despite these early classes and promising talent, John never attended a formal art school as an adult due to his family's continuous financial difficulties, but instead he apprenticed for a commercial art studio as a teenager, where he fine-tuned his skills enough to become a working artistl by the time the Great Depression hit. 

With an ability to travel and to follow work wherever it took him created a nimbleness in him that led to Chicago in the 1930s and to the Southwest. During WWII, he  produced artwork for the war effort in the Midwest. In the 1950s and 1960s, he taught art classes in New Mexico. New Orleans and Peoria, IL, before permanently settling in Chicago, which he remained his home base for the rest of his life. There he worked at Grant-Jacoby, an independent art design and advertising firm. In his spare time John traveled, whenever the opportunity arose, to tourist towns to paint landscapes and sell his work. 

Working in both oil and watercolor, he painted scenes of all sizes and scopes from large vistas to intimate settings and vignettes. This original watercolor was painted in Taxco, Mexico, a popular tourist destination between the 1930s and 1960s.

Featuring a traditional urban plazuela or jardine, this painting highlights the dappled sunlight as it reflects against the stucco walls of the city's historic colonial architecture. Highlighted by a large tree and a collection of benches, this is the exact type of scene that would have enchanted visitors from around the globe.

Taxco, during the 1940s, was especially popular for artists as well as tourists, and given the fact that John was eager to visit tourist towns where he could actively sketch, paint and sell his work, we suspect this painting dates to that era.

Painted in watercolor on watercolor paper, the back of the painting also features a hand-drawn sketch in pencil of a similar plazuela scene, which might have been the original inspiration for the finished painting. Also a fun note on this piece: while in Mexico, John signed his paintings not with his full name but a shortened version, Nacho, perhaps lending a more authentic Mexican feel and sensibility.

Throughout his career, John's works were exhibited in galleries across the U.S., and he won many prizes and awards for his paintings. In the 1940s, Eleanor Jewett of the Chicago Tribune described John's work as "true, virile, and still has that bit of fancy in it without which a picture may be a recording but not a painting."

A gorgeous celebration of the life of a working 20th-century artist who came up during the most difficult economic challenges the country has ever faced, this small watercolor represents a big artistic life for a painter who never let personal hardships and world challenges derail his passion to pursue art. 

It's also a lovely view of Taxco, Mexico, which has remained a strong tourist destination for over 100 years despite its close proximity to travel-restricted areas. As is wonderful about any historic city, the vistas haven't changed much and Taxco still retains that same charming architecture that has been inspiring artists and visitors for over a century. 

Included with this painting are a few press clippings from the 1960s featuring John and his work. 

Photo of John Nachorny courtesy of The Journal Star, November 28th, 1960

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

• Original watercolor 
• Signed by the artist
• Includes original pencil sketch on the reverse side
• Small size
• Watercolor and pencil on watercolor paper
  

{CONDITION}

In beautiful vintage condition, this painting contains no rips, tears, fading, or staining. The reverse contains remnants of tape where this was once most likely affixed to a mat for framing. 

{SIZE}

Measures 4.75" inches (width) x 6.75" inches (width) and weighs .3 oz. 

{DONATION SUPPORTED}

This heirloom gives back! 20% of the proceeds from the sale of this painting will be donated to rare.org - an international non-profit committed to protecting, promoting, and preserving global foodways, communities, and the environment through self-sustainability and conservation.