Ephraim Natkins
Eph, as he was known to his family and friends, worked as a full-time mechanical engineer with his own consulting company and was an artist by avocation.
He started taking classes at the Art Students League in 1937 and became a member in 1951.
He was also a monitor for the Saturday life drawing class, timing the poses of the models, for nearly 50 years until his death in 2008.
While his initial interest was oil painting, with many of the paintings offering wry commentary on the socio-political milieu, he also created humorous cartoons based on his work as an engineer.
In the late 1950s he transitioned to drawings in watercolor and pastels.
A long-time resident of Jackson Heights, New York, he was born and raised in Manhattan and educated at the City College of New York.
He married Glen Nass, the love of his life, in 1944, to whom he remained devoted for 64 years. Together they had four children and four grandchildren.
