Claire Fejes


Claire Specht Fejes was an American artist.

Early life

She born in New [York City, New York|New York] to parents from Poland and Austria.

Education and career

She trained in anatomy, stone-carving, and sculpture at the Newark Museum, Newark [Fine Arts School], and the Students' Art League through the Works Progress Administration.
She married Joe Fejes in 1942 and moved with him to Fairbanks, Alaska in 1946 where her husband took up gold mining.
Fejes sketched and painted Alaska Native people, Inupiat and Athabascans. She also wrote books about her travels and life in Alaska. They had a son, Mark, and a daughter, Yolande.
Her work is held in several museums, including the Anchorage Museum, Frye Art Museum, the University of [Michigan Museum of Art], the Blanton Museum of Art, the Anchorage Museum, the University of Alaska Museum of the North, and the National [Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]. Her artwork is also on display at the Fairbanks North Start Borough Public Library.

Later life

In her last decade, Fejes spent her winters in New [York City] and San Diego, and her summers in Fairbanks.