Boris “B.” Major
1876-1951
Biographical Sketch
(Based on historical documents collected by Kirby Tenhulzen)
Boris Major was born Berko Mesherowsky in Elisabethgrad, Russia, (now Kirovograd, Ukraine) May 31, 1876. His parents were Joseph and Ethel (Linetsky) Mesherowsky. Boris had a brother named Samuel (1886-1974) and sisters named Chane (Anna) (1894-1975) and Sarah (1891-1953). He studied art in Russia and Munich and was married to Maria (Mary) Erdman before immigrating to the United States in 1906. He and Mary were living in Jaroslaw, Poland, when they departed for America.
Boris and Mary arrived in New York aboard the SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse on May 9, 1906. Boris’ profession is listed in the ship’s manifest as painter. Boris declared his intent to become a citizen of the United States in February, 1907. Boris and Mary are listed in the 1910 U. S. Census, living in the Bronx, New York.
Mary Major died of complications from Grave’s disease on May 22, 1911. Mary is buried in Mt. Zion cemetery, Mespeth, Queens, NY. Boris and Mary did not have any children.
Boris was granted citizenship and officially changed his name to Boris Major in November, 1911. Boris’ profession is listed on his naturalization papers as artist. He was 5’4” tall, weighed 128 lbs, fair complected, brown hair, brown eyes in 1911. Boris’ paintings appear on the cover of the Edward Gross & Co. catalogue, circa 1911.
Boris’ brother, Samuel, and his sister Chane arrived in America in June and October, 1911, respectively. Samuel was 24 and Chane was just turning 17 and neither sibling was married at this time. In early 1912 Chane (Anna) Mesherowsky and Abraham Horr were married and in early 1919 Samuel Major and Minnie Weider were married.
Boris returned from a trip to Europe in November, 1912.
Boris traveled to South America (via Rio de Janeiro) in October, 1913. The address listed on the ship’s manifest is “care of” A. Horr, 1329 Prospect Avenue, New York, NY (now Bronx).
Boris’ nephew, Axel (Horr) Horn, was born January 11, 1913, in New York.
Jechwed Schparlinskaja (Anna Sparlinsky) arrived in America in October, 1913. She was 5’4” tall, fair hair and blue eyes. She lived with her sister and brother-in-law, Elias and Raissa "Ray" Skolnick, at 1164 Union Avenue, Bronx, NY.
Boris’ sister Sarah immigrated to America and arrived in New York City in September, 1913. She was 22 years old.
Anna Sparlinsky and Boris Major were married in April, 1914. Abraham Horr and Elias Skolnick signed the marriage certificate as witnesses.
Boris registered for the Selective Service in 1918, listing New Rochelle, NY, as his address. Boris’ profession is listed as artist. Boris’ brother-in-law Elias Skolnick also registered for the Selective Service in 1918, listing the same New Rochelle, NY, address.
The New Rochelle, New York, 1919 City Directory lists Boris' studio address as 4 North Avenue and his home address as 38 Cliff Street. Norman Rockwell's studio address is just a few blocks from Boris' at 78 North Avenue. Boris is 43 years old and Norman is 25.
According to the 1920 United States Census, Boris and Anna lived in New Rochelle, NY. Boris’ profession is listed as artist. Abraham, Anna and Axel Horr also lived in New Rochelle at this time, about 16 blocks from Boris and Anna. Abraham’s profession was listed as mechanical dentistry (dental laboratory technician).
Sometime between 1920 and 1930 Anna and Abraham Horr divorced. Abraham moved to California and remarried. Anna and Axel moved to Montclair, New Jersey, and lived with Boris and Anna Major until she married Emanuel Robbins sometime before 1930. In 1930, Emanuel, Anna, Axel and Emanuel’s son by his first marriage, Leon, were living in Montclair, New Jersey. According to Montclair city directories, Boris and Anna lived in Montclair, NJ, from 1926-1941. Boris’ profession is listed as artist.
Anna Major returned to New York from a trip to Europe on December 4, 1927, departing from Cherbourg, France, aboard the SS Berengaria.
In 1929, Boris and Anna Major began a two year journey that took them to Europe and North Africa. During this trip, Boris completed nearly fifty oil paintings and more than sixty watercolors, all done pleine aire. The cities the couple visited included Venice, Jerusalem, Algiers, Fez, and Cairo. Many of the paintings were exhibited in Newark, New Jersey, shortly after the Majors' return to the United States in September, 1930 (aboard the SS Saturnia, sailing from Trieste, Italy). Boris is quoted in the December 13, 1930, Montclair Times, "I am not a modernist, I am a realist. My houses look like houses and there is perspective not only in colors but in designs. I am not trying to impose upon you the idea that houses are crooked or the sky is green and the trees red. If I see a blue sky I paint it blue.”
Anna Major returned to New York from a trip to Sweden on August 27, 1934, departing from Gothenburg, Sweden, aboard the SS Gripsholm.
Boris and Anna returned to New York City from an overseas voyage on August 14, 1937, aboard the SS Statendam, sailing from Rotterdam on August 6, 1937.
In June, 1939, Boris and Anna Major returned to New York aboard the SS Antigua, sailing from Puerto Barrios, Guatemala.
In April, 1951, Boris and Anna returned to New York City aboard the SS Saturnia, departing from Naples, Italy.
Boris applied for a Social Security number in July, 1951. He was living in Lakewood, NJ. Boris died in the Bronx, New York, on December 5, 1951, aged 75. He is buried at Mt. Sinai Cemetery, Lakewood, New Jersey.
Boris’ sister Sarah Major Robbins died in Los Angeles, California, in 1953. Her husband, Israel Robbins, died in Los Angeles in 1981. They are both buried in the famous Hillside Memorial Park cemetery in Los Angeles.
Mrs. Boris (Anna) Major applied for a Social Security number in 1957. She was living in New York City.
Boris’ brother, Samuel, died in San Diego in 1974. He worked as a jeweler most of his life and he was divorced at the time of his death. His death certificate lists December 4, 1886, as his birth date. He applied for a social security account number in 1936 while living in Bronx, New York. His birth date on this application was listed as December 25, 1889. Both his death certificate and his SSN application listed his parents as Joseph and Ethel (Linetsky or Leonard) Major. Samuel and Minnie Major had two children: Josephine Major Glater, born in 1919, and Eugene Major, born in 1922. Anna (Chane Mesherowsky) Horn Robbins died in January, 1980. Her first husband, Abraham, died in Los Angeles in 1966. Her second husband, Emanuel Robbins, died in 1971.
Mrs. Boris (Anna) Major died in New York City in 1997, aged 107.
Axel Horn died in 2001 in Danbury, Fairfield, Connecticut, and was living in South Salem, New York, at the time. Axel was a painter and sculptor, a contemporary and friend of Jackson Pollock. The following information was taken from a poem about Boris Major written by Axel Horn:
Boris was a superb landscape painter and portraitist. When he came to this country he tried his hand at anything that would make him a living using paints. He was successful at a variety of media: he painted lamp shades, designed and painted pictorial silk scarves, originated textile patterns and made a comfortable living. Eventually, he became what is referred to as a “Buck-eye Painter”. This meant that he worked on contract for a wholesale dealer who supplied paintings to department stores.
The dealer had a string of artists who produced artwork for him in different styles. Some were specialists in one style, some were versatile in many. Boris would get weekly orders for “a dozen Alps sunsets, done with the palette knife”, or “ten Brittany sea-coast scenes”, etc. His dealer gave him the canvasses, precut to size, and a clip-file of reference material. Boris was in the top echelon of the dealer’s team of artists. He was paid $25 per painting which was a fabulous price in the 1920’s. Most of the “Buck-eyes” got $5 to $10 per painting. Boris would do all ten in one week, each one different.
The dealer brought in a selection to a department store and they were hung in the furniture and decorating departments: English fox-hunting scenes, New England autumn landscapes, Moroccan bazaars and so on. They remained there for a month. Anything not sold, was removed and replaced by others. Those removed, became part of a package for the next store on the circuit. Eventually, everything was sold. Boris became a star in this enterprise. He finally spent all his days traveling with his wife, painting on location in various countries and sending back his paintings.