Robert Carlton Breer (September 30, 1926 – August 11, 2011) was an American experimental filmmaker, painter, and sculptor.

Life and career

"A founding member of the American avant-garde,"
/ref> Breer was best known for his films, which combine abstract and representational painting, hand-drawn rotoscoping, original 16mm and 8mm film footage, photographs, and other materials.Carnegie International Museum of Art Website
Artist's bio. After experimenting with cartoon animation as a child, he started making his first abstract experimental films while living in Paris from 1949 to 1959, a period during which he also showed paintings and kinetic sculptures at galleries such as the renowned Galerie Denise René., "Screening Room with Robert Breer (1976)"Australian Center for the Moving Image
"Robert Breer: Master of the 4 inch x 6 inch."
Artist's Bio. Breer explained some of the reasons behind his move from painting to filmmaking in a 1976 interview: Breer also taught at Cooper Union in New York from 1971 to 2001.
Artist's Bio. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1978.
"Guggenheim Foundation Announces 1978 Awards." Breer died on August 11, 2011 at his home in Tucson.Frameworks Listserv
/ref>Movie City News
"Experimental Filmmaker Robert Breer Dies at 85."

Influences

His aesthetic philosophy and technique were influenced by an earlier generation of abstract filmmakers that included Hans Richter,

Viking Eggeling Viking Eggeling (21 October 1880, Lund – 19 May 1925, Berlin) was a Swedish avant-garde artist and filmmaker connected to dadaism, Constructivism, and abstract art and was one of the pioneers in absolute film and visual music. His 1 ...

Walter Ruttmann Walter Ruttmann (28 December 1887 – 15 July 1941) was a German cinematographer and film director, an important German abstract experimental film maker, along with Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling and Oskar Fischinger. He is best known for dire ...

, and Fernand Léger, whose work he discovered while living in Europe. Breer was also influenced by the concept of

Neo-plasticism ''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body o ...

as described by Piet Mondrian and

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 ...

Legacy

Scholarly publications on Breer's work and interviews with the artist can be found in ''Robert Breer'', ''A Critical Cinema 2: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers'' by Scott MacDonald, ''An Introduction to the American Underground Film'' by Sheldon Renan, ''Animation in the Cinema'' by Ralph Stephenson, and ''Film Culture'' magazine. Breer won the 1987 Maya Deren Independent Film and Video Artists' Award, presented by the American Film Institute. His film ''Eyewash'' was included in '' Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film 1947-1986''.

Archives

The following films were preserved by Anthology Film Archives:Anthology Film Archives Collections
/ref> *''Form Phases I'' (1952) *''Form Phases II'' (1953) *''Form Phases III'' (1954) *''Form Phases IV'' (1956) *''Un Miracle'' (1954) *''Recreation'' (1956) *''Motion Pictures No. 1'' (1956) *''Jamestown Baloos'' (1957) *''A Man and His Dog Out for Air'' (1957) *''Le Mouvement'' (1957) *''Eyewash'' (1959) – both versions *''Blazes'' (1961) *''Breathing'' (1963) *''Fist Fight'' (1964) *''66'' (1966) *''69'' (1969) *''70'' (1971) *''77'' (1970) *''

Fuji Fuji may refer to: Places China * Fuji, Xiangcheng City (付集镇), town in Xiangcheng City, Henan Japan * Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan * Fuji River * Fuji, Saga, town in Saga Prefecture * Fuji, Shizuoka, city in Shizuoka Prefec ...

'' (1974) *''Swiss Army Knife with Rats and Pigeons'' (1981) *''Bang!'' (1986) The following films were preserved by the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

: *''Form Phases #4'' (1954, preserved 2019) *''Sunday Morning Screenings'' (1960, a trailer for

Cinema 16 Cinema 16 was a New York City–based film society founded by Amos Vogel. From 1947-63, he and his wife, Marcia, ran the most successful and influential membership film society in North American history, at its height boasting 7000 members. Histo ...

) *''Time Flies'' (1997, preserved 2018) *''Atoz'' (2000, preserved 2018)

References

External links