Figurative composition, 1980 Oil pastel on paper Signed to lower right Hailing from Ontario, Canada, Jack Meanwell began his formal artistic training at the Detroit Art Academy and the Society of Arts and Crafts during the Great Depression, focusing on commercial arts, before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. After a brief and unfulfilling career advertising for Ford and Chrysler in 1945, Meanwell and his family relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he would eventually make his home and realize his calling, painting and instructing with great conviction at the Art Academy of Cincinnati for over 25 years. Meanwell remains one of the most highly sought-after collected Cincinnati painters and is often associated with fellow Cincinnati painter and friend, Paul Chidlaw. His works are represented in the permanent collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum.