Altina Schinasi facts for kids

Altina Schinasi (born August 4, 1907 – died August 19, 1999) was an amazing American artist and inventor. She was a sculptor, filmmaker, business owner, and designer. Altina is most famous for creating the stylish Harlequin eyeglass frames.

Early Life and Art Journey

Altina Schinasi was the youngest child in her family. She was born in New York City on August 4, 1907. She studied at home for a while. Then, at age twelve, she went to a special boarding school in Massachusetts.

After finishing school, Altina and her sister went to Paris with their mother. There, Altina studied painting with her cousin, René Bensussan. She loved art even more after this experience. She decided to go to art school in New York instead of a regular college. She studied with Samuel Halpert at the Roerich Museum.

Altina's father, Morris Schinasi, was from Turkey. Her mother, Laurette Schinasi, was from Greece. After her father passed away in 1928, her mother traveled to Turkey. She helped build a children's hospital there, named after Altina's father. The hospital is still helping children today.

Altina's View on Art

Altina loved making things. She once said, "I painted for the joy of it. For me, art is fun. I always had to make something. I wanted to use my art to enrich my life." She believed art should be enjoyable and help you explore new ideas.

Working as a Window Designer

Altina got a job helping to design windows for big stores on Fifth Avenue in New York. This is where she worked with Salvador Dalí. He was a famous artist who designed windows for a store called Bonwit Teller. Altina helped build the displays that Dalí imagined.

Later, Altina studied art with George Grosz. He was a German artist she admired. He had moved to New York to escape problems in his home country. Altina met Salvador Dalí again in Grosz's classes.

The Famous Harlequin Eyeglass Frame

Altina's biggest invention was the Harlequin eyeglass frame. This design became very popular in the late 1930s. One day, she was walking and saw some boring eyeglasses in a shop window. She thought, "Eyeglasses should be more exciting!"

She wanted to create frames that looked fun, mysterious, and romantic. Altina got the idea from the Harlequin mask, which is a classic theater mask. She started cutting shapes into frames to make them look like masks.

Once she had her design, Altina started making and selling the frames. She opened an office to manage her business. In 1939, she won a special award called the Lord & Taylor Annual American Design Award. Magazines like Vogue and Life said she changed the whole eyewear industry.

Life in California

In the 1940s, Altina moved to Los Angeles, California. She wanted to spend more time on her art. She sold her eyeglass business. Moving away from New York allowed her to focus deeply on painting. She studied at the Jepson School of Art.

Altina was very dedicated to her art. She set up a studio at home and put a sign on the door. It said, "Do not come in unless there's a catastrophe." She wanted three hours of uninterrupted time to paint every day. Her large paintings were even shown at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Altina also volunteered as an art therapist at a mental health center called Synanon.

Filmmaking: George Grosz' Interregnum

While in California, Altina created a short documentary film called George Grosz' Interregnum. This film showed the anti-Nazi artwork of her former teacher, George Grosz. Grosz gave Altina permission to make the film. She used his drawings and filmed them on sixteen-millimeter film.

The film also used text from Grosz's book, read by Lotte Lenya. George Grosz' Interregnum was a big success! It was nominated for an Academy Award. It also won First Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Altina was credited as the producer of the film.

A Film for the March on Washington

After her film's success, Altina became interested in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s March on Washington. She got the rights to make a film about it. She hired author John Oliver Killens to write the script.

Altina met with Dr. King in Atlanta to give him the script. Dr. King even told his church congregation about the movie. While in Alabama, Altina met Rosa Parks and interviewed Rev. Ralph Abernathy. A famous Italian director, Vittorio De Sica, wanted to direct the film. However, Altina could not find enough money to make the movie, so it was never produced.

Unique "Chairacters"

Altina was inspired by a photograph of empty chairs. She decided to combine the idea of a chair with the shape of a person. She called these amazing chairs and benches "chairacters." She first made the shapes out of Styrofoam. Then she sculpted them in plaster. The final products were made from fiberglass.

Her "chairacters" were even featured on the cover of The Los Angeles Times Magazine.

In 1973, Altina moved to Washington D.C. She lived there for seventeen years. She continued to create art. She hired Celestino Miranda as her studio assistant. He was a talented artist from Cuba. They became great collaborators and married in 1981.

Later Years

Altina Schinasi kept painting and sculpting. She moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her fourth husband, Celestino Miranda. She spent her final years there. A documentary about her life, called Altina, was released in 2014.