Michael Burton Mazur (1935 – August 18, 2009) was an American artist who was described by William Grimes of The New York Times as "a restlessly inventive printmaker, painter, and sculptor."[1]
Mazur first gained notice for his series of lithographs and etchings of inmates in a mental asylum, which resulted in two publications, "Closed Ward" and "Locked Ward." Over the years, he worked in printmaking and painting. His series of large-scale prints for Dante's Inferno won critical acclaim,and were the subject of a traveling exhibition organized by the University of Iowa in 1994. Later he concentrated on creating large, lyrical paintings which make use of his free, gestural brushwork and a varied palette. Some of these paintings were seen in an exhibition of 2002 at Boston University, "Looking East: Brice Marden, Michael Mazur, and Pat Steir."[4] See also Susan Danly's "Branching: The Art of Michael Mazur."[5]
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has acquired a definitive collection of Mazur's prints. Trudy V. Hansen authored a catalogue raisonne of Mazur's prints in 2000.[6]