Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
in Massachusetts and graduated in 1916.Florsheim Shoe
Florsheim Shoes is a shoe brand in the United States.
History
Florsheim & Co. was founded in 1892 by Milton S. Florsheim. He and his father Sigmund Florsheim made the first shoes in Chicago.
Eventually, some stores were owned by and selling onl ...
Company. The Florsheims had two children, Nancy Goldberg née Florsheim, restaurant owner and manager whom married artist Bertrand Goldberg
Bertrand Goldberg (July 17, 1913 – October 8, 1997) was an American architect and industrial designer, best known for the Marina City complex in Chicago, Illinois, the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world at the time of complet ...
and Mary Florsheim Picking, who was married to actor Allan Jones.
Career
Florsheim's art career and studies began in the late 1940s, around the time of her divorce from Irving Florsheim.
Her career began in 50s and continued into her 80s; she first began her studies taking painting courses taught by
Rudolph Weisenborn and George Buehle.
However, after viewing the work of
Max Bill
Max Bill (22 December 1908 – 9 December 1994) was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer.
Early life and education
Bill was born in Winterthur. After an apprenticeship as a silversmith ...
at the Art Institute of Chicago, Florsheim became more interested in abstract work and enrolled in classes at the Institute of Design with
Hugo Weber
Hugo Edmond Weber (1918–1971) was a Swiss-born, American artist and arts educator. Weber was known as an abstract, avant‐garde artist active in Chicago, Paris and New York City between the 1940s–1971. He worked mainly in painting but was a ...
in 1951. While there, she took an interest in three-dimensional studies.
Between the 1950s and 80s, Florsheim created a body of work with more than 200 sculptures. She used a variety of materials, methods, and techniques throughout her creations.
During the 1950s, she created abstracted figures, string study models, and utilitarian objects in
Plexiglas
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite, ...
. By the mid-60s, her sculptures became more abstract and complex studies of form and by the 70s, her work evolved further into strong geometric constructions using rods and planes and her works grew larger.
In 1970, Florsheim had a significant show at the
Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to:
Africa
* Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi
Asia East Asia
* Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...
in Chicago, followed by a three-year break. When she returned to her work, she focused on more intimate pieces.
Personal life
In 1946, purchased a home on Chicago's
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
designed by architect
Andrew Rebori
Andrew Nicholas Rebori (February 21, 1886 – May 31, 1966) was an American architect who was a member of the Chicago school of architecture.
Life and work
Early life
Born in New York City, Rebori was the son of an engineer who had immigrat ...
in 1938. The home was constructed for Rebori's own use and included a coach house in the rear. The same year, Florsheim's daughter Nancy, married artist Bertrand Goldberg. He would renovate Lillian's home to display her art, design her studio space, and designed a kitchen as a bridge to join the main house and carriage house together.
The kitchen was featured in the Chicago Tribune and Home and Garden due to its unique design and color scheme of black, white, and stainless steel, which made small bridge space feel larger.
Florsheim maintained a close with Nancy and Goldberg throughout her life, and the pair moved close to whom moved a few blocks from Lillian's home in 1955, and took over the Rebori home following her death.
In the 1940s, Florsheim began to amass her own collection of art. She was particularly interested in abstract art and she knew and maintained relationships with many of the artists she collected.
Her collection included works from
Georges Vantongerloo
Georges Vantongerloo (24 November 1886, Antwerp – 5 October 1965, Paris) was a Belgian abstract sculptor and painter and founding member of the De Stijl group.
Life
From 1905 to 1909 Vantongerloo studied Fine Art at the Fine Art Academies in A ...
,
Barbara Hepworth
Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...
,
Naum Gabo
Naum Gabo, born Naum Neemia Pevsner (23 August 1977) (Hebrew: נחום נחמיה פבזנר), was an influential sculptor, theorist, and key figure in Russia's post-Revolution avant-garde and the subsequent development of twentieth-century scul ...
,
Jean Arp
Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist.
Early life
Arp was born in Straßburg (now Stras ...
,
Isamu Noguchi
was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several ...
, and
Victor Vasarely
Victor Vasarely (; born Győző Vásárhelyi, ; 9 April 1906 – 15 March 1997) was a Hungarian-French artist, who is widely accepted as a "grandfather" and leader of the Op art movement.
His work entitled ''Zebra'', created in 1937, is consi ...
.
Death and legacy
Lillian Florsheim died on December 28, 1988, in Chicago, IL at the age of 92.
Between 1965 and 1985, Florsheim had more than 15 solo shows around the world including in Chicago, Germany, Israel, France, and New Orleans.
Florsheim's work is held in both public and private collections
including:
* Art Institute of Chicago
* Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.
* Smithsonian Museum, Washington D.C.
* Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
* Longue Vue, New Orleans, LA
References
External links
* Catalogs from
Galerie Denise Rene
*
1968
*
1969
*
1985
* Chicago Tribune article detailing Florsheim's home
An Artist's Ultra-Modern Chicago Home by Elizabeth Rannells
{{DEFAULTSORT:Florsheim, Lillian
Created via preloaddraft
1896 births
1988 deaths
20th-century American sculptors
20th-century American women artists
American women sculptors
Artists from New Orleans