Abstract Acrylic on Canvas painting by Pittsburgh based modernist painter Russell Twiggs. Signed and Dated.

Twiggs was a long time employee of the art department at Carnegie Mellon. He organized student art that was to be critiqued each semester by the faculty at the Carnegie Tech Art department. The critiques happened on an official day known as ‘Judgement Day.’ Every student’s art would be lined up and stamped on the back with a Carnegie Institute of Technology stamp noting the day of critique. The faculty would discuss each student’s progress. He and his wide, Loreen who was secretary to the head of the Art Department, befriended Andy Warhol. At the end of Warhol’s freshman year, the faculty decided to flunk out Warhol. Russell and Loreen, who recognized Warhol’s talents, stepped in to prevent Andy from being kicked out of Carnegie Mellon. He held on to many of Warhol’s earliest works and later donated them to the Carnegie Museum. Russell Twiggs was a fine painter in his own right and he was inspirational to many students including Andy Warhol.

This is one of his largest paintings and quite possibly Twigg’s most beautiful and monumental work on canvas, which he completed later in his life.