Edward Biberman
| Edward Biberman | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Edward Biberman |
| Born | 23 October 1904 |
| Died | 27 January 1986 (aged 81) Los Angeles, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Field | Painter |
| Training | Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts |
| Movement | Modernism |
| Awards | Lambert Fund Purchase Prize |
Edward Biberman (23 October 1904 – 27 January 1986) was an American artist active in the mid-twentieth century. His work ranged from stylised portraits to history-inspired murals, and drew on the emerging urban landscapes of southern California, and on current events such as the Great Depression, the Second World War, and labour unrest.
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[edit] Life and career
Biberman was born into a prosperous Philadelphia family of Russian Jewish immigrants, and studied economics at the Wharton School.[1] His later studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, followed by three years in Paris, led to his decision to become a full time artist. He lived in New York City from 1929 to 1936, where he came into contact with the Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco; thanks to their influence, Biberman became a champion of public murals. In 1930, he was named one of the "46 Under 35" younger artists featured in a Museum of Modern Art exhibition.
In 1931, he lived for the summer in a Navajo settlement at Monument Valley, where his work focused on both the Navajo people and on their desert surroundings. His experiences there inspired in him a love of the southwestern United States, and he was soon to move there permanently. Following his arrival in Los Angeles in 1936, the city which would inspire some of his best-known work, he won two commissions for murals to decorate the Los Angeles Federal Building. When the building was remodelled in 1965, the murals were removed and placed in storage. Though initially popular for the clean lines and crisp colours of his work, his career never recovered from the blow it received when he, his wife, and other members of his circle were accused of being Communists.[2] Despite these accusations, he lived in Los Angeles for the rest of his life.
Preceding Biberman's move to California, the artist became intrigued by the allure of the Southwest desert. In the early 1930s he acquainted himself with Georgia O’Keeffe and John Marin. Like O’Keeffe, Biberman painters modified realist painting by applying a modernist aesthetic. After moving to Los Angeles, Biberman became an essential part of the mid-century Los Angeles art scene. He often painted the figure as a way of addressing issues of race, immigration, labor, and ensuing social inequality around the world. His painting of "The Biafran Child' has become a symbol for the future of our children lest we mend our ways and is under consideration for a comerative stamp for the benefit of the homeless children of Haiti.[3]
Biberman wrote two books about his paintings, The Best Untold and Time and Circumstance. From 1938 to 1950, he taught at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and lectured widely on art subjects for the University Extension of UCLA. In the 1960s, Biberman hosted television programs on art, including Dialogues in Art from 1967–1968.
Biberman was married for 51 years to Sonja Dahl Biberman (1910–2007), an artist in her own right. His brother, Herbert Biberman, was the screenwriter and director known for having been one of the Hollywood Ten. His great-nephew is Jeremy Strick, the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.[4] Edward Biberman died of cancer in 1986.
[edit] Exhibitions and awards
Over the course of his career, Biberman exhibited his works at more than 35 solo exhibitions in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, Paris, Berlin, and California. His works were also displayed at the American Artists' Congress (1936), the San Francisco Art Association (1937), the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939), the California Art Club (1943), and the Whitney Museum (1953). His never before seen painting entitled "The Biafrian Child" is under consideration as a stamp for the benefit of the homeless children of Haiti and is to be housed at the original Hospital Albert Schweitzer, at Lambaréné in Gabon, Africa. The donation is to remain un-maned. His paintings are now to be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas. His life-size portraits of singer Lena Horne and author Dashiell Hammett form part of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. Among his awards are the Lambert Fund Purchase Prize.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ "Sonja & Edward". http://www.danvilleweekly.com/story.php?story_id=2605. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ "Hollywood Blacklisting: persons named as Communist". http://www.jefferson.lib.la.us/Reference/personsnamedascommunist.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ Anderson, Alissa J., Edward Biberman (1904–1986), http://andersonshea-artappraisals.com/artists/serisawa.html
- ^ Knight, Christopher (1999-08-06). "MOCA Director a Curator to the Core". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1999/aug/06/entertainment/ca-63012. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ "Edward Biberman: 1904–1986, Philadelphia-Los Angeles". http://galleryz.us/biberman.html. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
[edit] External links
- Edward Biberman Biography
- DVD of Documentary about Edward Biberman: Brush with Life: The Art of Being Edward Biberman
- Brush with Life: The Art of Being Edward Biberman on the Internet Movie Database
- Locations of Biberman's works
- Sonja and Edward (Interview with Biberman's wife)
- Edward Biberman papers, 1929-1985 from the Smithsonian Archives of American Art
- Oral history interview with Edward Biberman, 1964 Apr. 15 also from the Archives of American Art
