23 Facts About Anthony Velonis

Anthony Velonis was an American painter and designer born in New York City who helped introduce the public to silkscreen printing in the early 20th century.

Anthony Velonis married Elizabeth Amidon, with whom he had four children.

Anthony Velonis experimented and mastered techniques to print on a wide variety of materials, such as glass, plastics, and metal, thereby expanding the field.

Anthony Velonis was born into a relatively poor background of a Greek immigrant family and grew up in the tenements of New York City.

Anthony Velonis eventually received a scholarship to the NYU College of Fine Arts, into which he was both surprised and ecstatic to have been admitted.

Anthony Velonis attended NYU until 1929, when the Great Depression started in the United States after the stock market crash.

Around the year 1932, Anthony Velonis became interested in silk screen, together with fellow artist Fritz Brosius, and decided to investigate the practice.

Anthony Velonis was hired by Mayor LaGuardia in 1934 to promote the work of New York's city government via posters publicizing city projects.

Anthony Velonis kept this position until 1936 or 1938, at which point he began working in the graphic art division of the Federal Art Project, which he ultimately led.

Anthony Velonis introduced silkscreen printing to the Poster Division of the WPA.

Anthony Velonis was dedicated to disseminating the screen print process to American printmakers, many of whom made their first screen prints in the workshops sponsored by the Federal Art Project.

Anthony Velonis was thoroughly familiar with every aspect of silk screen technique, having previously worked in commercial shops; and he became more and more struck with its possibilities as a color print medium for artists.

Anthony Velonis was aware of the growing popularity of color woodcuts and color lithographs produced on the Project by means of expensive technical equipment beyond the means of the average artist, and he set out to perfect a more fluent and less expensive color printing process.

In 1939, Anthony Velonis founded the Creative Printmakers Group, along with three others, including Hyman Warsager.

Anthony Velonis recorded profits of about $25,000 in the first year alone, taking it in a new direction:.

In 1942, Anthony Velonis was drafted into the United States Army Air Forces.

Later, during his time in Wright Field, Anthony Velonis was placed in the statistical control department, where he worked in management engineering.

Anthony Velonis's department focused on formatting raw data into more accessible visuals, such as graphs and other such illustrations.

Anthony Velonis continued to engineer printing on various materials such as metals.

Anthony Velonis focused on metals secondarily due to a lack of demand for metal prints.

Anthony Velonis attributed his lack of "creative energy" in this time period, regarding paintings in particular, to his work in engineering projects such as printing on plastics.

Anthony Velonis said this work required him to "apply yourself day in and day out" for acceptable results.

Anthony Velonis' art has appeared in a number of exhibitions in the northeastern United States, including the following:.