biography of Theresa Ferber BERNSTEIN (1890-2002)

Birth place: Phila., PA

Death place: New York, NY

Addresses: NYC; East Gloucester, MA, 1998

Profession: Painter, writer, etcher

Studied: Phila. Sch. Design (now Moore College) with Henry B. Snell, Eliot Daingerfield, Daniel Garber, Harriet Sartain, Sam Murray, 1907-11; ASL with W.M. Chase

Exhibited: AIC, 1914-40; Greene Traveling Fellowship; Pan-Pac. Expo, San Fran., 1915; PAFA, 1916-38; NAD, 1916-46; Soc. Indep. Artists, 1918-44 (except for 1932); Milch Gal., NYC, 1919 (first solo); Corcoran Gal., 1921-41; Phila. Plastic Cl., 1925 (Shilliard Gold Medal); Sesqui-Centennial Intern. Expo, Phila., 1926; French Inst. Art & Letters (Jeanne d'Arc Medal);Dayton AI, 1930-38; WMAA, 1935-39; NAWA (jury awards, 1938-59); Am. Color Print Soc. (prize); Phila. Print Club (prize); GGE, 1939; CI; MMA; BMFA; BM; WMA, 1930-39; Am. Painters, MMA,1950; Smithsonian Inst.,1956; Grand Central Gal., NYC and Bar Harbor (ME) Gal., 1970s; North Shore AA, 1971 (Johnson award); NYC WPA Exh., Parsons Sch. Design, 1977; Stamford Mus. (Centennial Exh..) 1990; Mus. City of NY, 1990; J. Whalen FA, NYC, 1998 (70-year retrospective); Moore College of Art & Des., Phila., PA, 1998 (retrospective, "The Phila. Ten"); Salons of Am.

Member: North Shore AA (charter mem.); Am. Color Print Soc.; SAE; Soc. Independent Artists; Gloucester SA; CAFA; Plastic Club; Ten Phila. Painters; NAWA ; Audubon Artists Am. (jury member, 1950-); SAGA; Allied Artists Am.; NY Soc. Women Artists (dir.,1928-).

Work: AIC; LOC; PMG; BM; Princeton Univ.; Dayton AI; WMAA; MMA; Harvard Univ.; Phillips Art Gal., Wash., DC; Nat. Mus., Smithsonian Inst. Commissions: First Orchestra in Am., Treasury Dept. for Mannhein, PA, 1940; portrait of Prof. David Lyons, Harvard Univ. Biblical Mus. Faculty, 1954; portrait of Pro. Robert Pheiffer, Harvard Univ., 1956; portrait of Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah, 1959.

Comments: A realist painter and expressive colorist known for her urban and shoreline scenes. In 1998, at age 108, she revealed that her secret to longevity was, "I don't count." Married to painter and etcher William Meyerowitz for 62 years. Teaching: dir., summer art course, Gloucester, MA, 1932-69. WPA artist. Publications: William Meyerowitz (1958); History of Jewish Artists (1958, Zukunft); History of Cape Ann Artists (Gloucester Times, 1970); History North Shore AA (1972); History New York Soc. of Women Artists (1972).

Sources: WW73; WW47; J. B. Nelson, article, Int. Studio (1925); Dorothy Adlow, article, Christian Science Monitor (1929); E.A. Jenell, articles, New York Times, (1945); Menorah Journal (1948); Pisano, One Hundred Years...the National Association of Women Artists, 30; New York City WPA Art, 9 (w/repros.); Talbott and Sidney, The Philadelphia Ten.