Helen Breger: Difference between revisions
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Helen Breger | |
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| Born | Helen Hammermann 1918 Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria) |
| Died | October 22, 2013 Berkeley, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Helen Hamerman Breger, Helen Hamerman |
| Education | Art Students League of New York, San Francisco Art Institute, California College of Arts and Crafts (MFA) |
| Occupation(s) | Printmaker, ceramist, draftsperson, illustrator, sculptor, watercolorist, educator |
| Known for | Etching |
| Spouse | Leonard Breger (divorced) |
| Children | 2 |
| Mother | Esther Hamerman |
| Awards | MacDowell Fellowship (1967) |
Helen Breger (née Helen Hammermann;[1] 1918 – 2013) was an Austrian-born American printmaker, ceramist, draftsperson, fashion illustrator, sculptor, and educator.[2] She taught at the California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts) in Oakland, California for over 30 years.
Early life and education
Helen Hammermann was born in 1918, in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria), to Jewish parents Esther (née Waschmann) and Baruch Hammermann.[1] Her mother was a Polish-born folk art painter, who used the name Esther Hamerman.[1] Her sister Juana Nadja Merino–Kalfel (also known as Nadja Kalfel), was a noted fashion illustrator and sculptor.[3]
In 1938, after the Austrian Nazis took over the government, the Hammermann family fled to Trinidad, and were interred by the British for six years.[3] During the internment, Helen Hammermann worked as a fashion illustrator and modified her designs for the tropics in Trinidad.[1] In 1944, the family was permitted to move to New York City.[1] She was educated at the Art Students League of New York.
Helen married an American solider named Leonard Breger, and they had two children prior to divorcing.[2][4] In 1950, the Breger family moved to San Francisco. She continued her education at the San Francisco Art Institute; and received a M.F.A. degree in 1970 from the California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts).[2]
Career
From 1954 to 1960, Breger worked as a freelance illustrator for the San Francisco Chronicle.[2] She would draw the newest fashions found in local luxury department stores such as I. Magnin and Joseph Magnin.[2]
She taught drawing at the the California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts) in Oakland, California, from 1959 until 1988.[4]
Death and legacy
She grappled with liver cancer, and died on October 22, 2013, at her home in Berkeley, California.[2]
Her work is in public collections, including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,[5] the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[6] the Philadelphia Museum of Art,[7] the Brooklyn Museum,[8] and the Binghamton University Art Museum.[9]
Breger was the subject of the documentary Vienna in the Heavenlies (2012), by her daughter Michelle Shelfer.[2][10]
Publications
- Lines: A Sketched Life. 2008.
- Sketches Poetical. 2011.
References
- ^ a b c d e Newman, Joanna (2019-09-13). Nearly the New World: The British West Indies and the Flight from Nazism, 1933–1945. Berghahn Books. pp. 132, 276. ISBN 978-1-78920-334-9.
- ^ a b c d e f g Zinko, Carolyne (October 26, 2013). "Bay Area artist, teacher Helen Breger dies". SFGate.
- ^ a b Newhall, Edith (2012-03-06). "All in the Family". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ a b "Helen Breger Biography". Annex Galleries Fine Prints. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ "Collection: Helen Breger". Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF). Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ "Helen Breger, Sightseeing". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ "Children's Games (Part I)". Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ "Helen Breger". Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ "Helen Breger". Binghamton University Art Museum. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ "Collections: Jewish family in Vienna, 1938". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
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