Alfred Levitt; U.S. Painter Adapted Modern Styles

Alfred Levitt, 105, a realist painter who adapted European cubism to American themes. During his 80-year career, Levitt produced hundreds of paintings which have gone into collections of such museums as New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Levitt, who was also a photographer, became a painter after serving in the Navy in World War I. He was influenced by American artist and teacher Robert Henri, and he modeled nude at a Manhattan school so he could hear Henri’s lectures for free. Modernist artist Hans Hofmann introduced him to cubism. Along with Milton Avery and Mark Rothko, Levitt was part of a group of artists who spent summers during the 1940s painting in New England. They helped Americanize modernism by adapting cubism to U.S. themes. After World War II, Levitt made many trips to Europe to photograph the prehistoric art on the walls of French and Spanish caves. He was made a knight of the French Order of Arts and Letters in 1975. On Thursday in New York.