Sarai Sherman facts for kids

Sarai Sherman (September 2, 1922 – October 24, 2013) was an American artist born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her art, both in America and Europe, helped change how people saw women and a style of art called abstract expressionism. She was an important painter and sculptor in the 20th century. She was known for her abstract paintings, prints, and ceramic sculptures.

Sarai Sherman's Life and Art Journey

Sarai Sherman was born in Philadelphia in 1922. She loved painting from a young age. When she was about 10, she joined an art and graphics program. These early years helped her develop an interest in people, nature, and buildings.

She went to Kensington High School for Girls and kept exploring art. Sherman also studied at the famous Barnes Foundation in Pennsylvania. There, she saw important works by modern art masters. She then attended the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. She earned two degrees there, one in fine arts and one in education. Later, she got a master's degree in art history and painting from the University of Iowa. In 1948, when she was 26, she showed a painting called "Hericane Time" at the Pyramid Club.

Sherman moved to New York City to focus on her art career. For a while, she designed fabrics and wallpaper. These designs were sold in stores in Philadelphia and New York. In 1958, she shared her ideas about design. She believed designers needed to understand people and machines. She felt it was especially important to understand American women, as they were going through many changes.

During World War II, Sherman lived in Eagle Pass, Texas. Her husband was stationed there with his army regiment.

Painting in Italy: 1952-1954

Sherman received a special award called a Fulbright Grant. This allowed her to paint in Italy. While there, she saw how much poverty existed in Europe after the war. These experiences deeply affected her and changed her art. Italy became a place where she could fully experience and be part of the culture.

In 1953, she wrote from Matera, Italy, saying she felt at home. She explained that the light, color, or movement of an animal would remind her of her childhood. She felt like her past self was looking at this new, unfamiliar place. She described seeing a mother and child in the sunlight. She felt as if she had seen them years before, looking tired but beautiful. She said her painting process was natural and spontaneous. Her finished paintings from this time often used yellow, ochre, white, and ivory colors. They showed a feeling of ancient times.

Sherman's art during this time compared reality with memories. She cared deeply about the people around her, especially the poor people in southern Italy. She felt a connection between her own background and their struggles. Her art became very personal, as she identified with the people she painted. Her paintings from this period are full of meaning. They show tenderness and deep thought. They often felt like the end of an experience, rather than just a discovery of new things.

Artistic Growth: 1955-1960

From 1955 to 1960, Sherman worked in the United States. During this time, she expanded her experiences and made her paintings richer. She looked back at artists like the Impressionists, moving away from the style of Pablo Picasso. Like Francis Bacon, Sherman used ideas from French masters of the late 1800s. She filtered these ideas through her own unique vision. The busy streets and everyday life strongly influenced her. This made her art more objective, but also more personal than ever.

Sherman also helped with the recovery after the 1966 flood of the Arno in Florence, Italy. A group of international women artists, called the "Flood Ladies," gave their artwork to the city. This showed their support after the terrible damage caused by the Arno River. The art they donated is now in the "Museum of the 1900s." For the 50th anniversary of the flood, Sherman's painting called Icarus was part of a special traveling exhibition. It was also featured in a book and a 2015 PBS documentary about the flood.

Sherman's art was shown in many important solo exhibitions. These included shows at the ACA Gallery in New York City and galleries in Italy. She also had exhibitions in Chicago, Yugoslavia, Austria, and Canada.

Bear Cat, 1957

Sherman also created many lithographs and prints. Many of these were made at the famous Il Bisonte studio in Florence. This studio also produced works for well-known artists like Henry Moore and Pablo Picasso.

Sherman won many awards for her work. These included a Pepsi Cola award in 1945 and the Fulbright Foundation fellowship to Italy from 1952 to 1954. She also received a painting award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City in 1964. In 1970, she won their Childe Hassam Prize. She also received many medals and prizes in exhibitions across Italy. In 1976, she won the Proctor Prize from the National Academy of Design in New York City.

Sarai Sherman's Art Style and Influences

Sherman's most important and praised work was created in Italy in the mid-1950s. These paintings focused on the sunny landscapes, people, and life in Southern Italy after World War II. Her paintings from this time captured the dry colors and bright light of the region.

Mario Penelope, an art critic, wrote about Sherman in 1983. He remembered her paintings from her first show in Rome in 1955. These paintings showed women, children, and farmers. They were shown in a simple, old-fashioned way, looking serious and timeless. They showed the sad loneliness of the farming world. The shapes and forms in her paintings were carefully planned. Colors were used in a controlled way, showing a deep sense of value. Lines were clear and precise, showing some influence from Picasso and Cubism.

Another Italian art critic, Duilio Morosini, wrote about Sherman in 1977. Morosini said that Sherman's work should be seen alongside other American artists who showed real life. Sherman often explored the idea of lonely city life. But for her, this wasn't a sad thought where nothing could be changed, like in Edward Hopper's art. It also wasn't an angry protest, like in some post-war art. In Sherman's paintings, her characters didn't rely on small details. Instead, they showed a strong "aura" or feeling. The way light was used in her paintings made everything seem caught between day and night. This showed a feeling of unease and waiting for something unpredictable to happen.

Morosini also noted that Sherman's art consistently showed how values can become twisted in society. Sherman was able to use different meanings in her art, along with colors and soft light. This helped her connect with younger generations. Her work in the 1970s showed a change in how she painted general meanings. This was a challenging time for painters of her generation.

Overall, Sherman's art often explored the idea of people being unkind to each other. In her work, the way she painted (form) and what she painted (content) were always connected.

Ceramic Sculptures

In the early 1980s, Sherman started making three-dimensional art with ceramics. Her sculptures from this time were calm and thoughtful. They showed peaceful animal and human shapes. The soft, natural forms often looked like female figures. These delicate porcelain works often showed opposite ideas, like peace and war, or life and death.

Guzzetti Chapel (Cappella Guzzetti), Cortona, Italy

Between 1987 and 1994, Sherman created a large art project in Cortona, Italy. This was for the Guzzetti Chapel at the Villa Corono. She painted frescoes (paintings on wet plaster) on the walls of the 18th-century building. This series of paintings, called Camera Picta, told stories using symbols. They included biblical and everyday themes like sheep, peaceful landscapes, and plants. The paintings used soft, muted colors like umber, ochre, and cream. These colors reminded people of her earlier work from the 1950s. The entire project included paintings, sculptures, and architectural trompe-l'œil (art that tricks the eye into seeing 3D objects). The altarpiece, made from 1992 to 1994, used ceramic sculptures of repeating sheep. This was a symbol from the Bible.

Sarai Sherman's Legacy

Sarai Sherman's artwork is part of many important art collections. These include the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and the Whitney Museum of Art, also in New York. Her work is also in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. In Italy, her art is in the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Other places include the Jerusalem Museum in Israel and the Museum of the 1900s in Florence, Italy.

Sherman passed away in New York City on October 24, 2013.

Awards and Honors

• 1949 Pepsi Cola Award, USA
• 1952 Fulbright Grant in Painting, Italy
• 1964 Award for Painting, National Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, USA
• 1964 Premio Cecina, Italy
• 1965 Premio Resistenza, Pistoia
• 1965 Premio San Giovanni (Gold medal from the President of the Senate)
• 1967 Premio Marzotto (Special Citation)
• 1969 Premio Acireale (Silver Medal)
• 1970 Childe Hassan Purchase Prize, National Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, USA
• 1975 Premio San Marino, Republic of San Marino
• 1976 Proctor Prize, National Academy of Design, New York.

Selected Group Exhibitions

Selected Solo Exhibitions 1950-1965

Published Art Collections

• 1964 The Bachae, Ed. Il Bisonte, Florence. Delphic Press, New York.
• 1966 The Song of Songs, Ed. Penelope Gallery, Delphic Press, New York.
• 1969 Folk Rock, Blues and Flower Children, Ed. Grafica Romero, Rome.
• 1973 The Garden of Eden, Ed. Stamperia Dell'Orso, Raffaele Bandini, Milan
• 1975 Nature Viva, Ed. Raffaele Bandini, Milan (text by Carlo Bernari)

Museum Collections

Documentary Films About Sarai Sherman

• Painting Like Life, 1969, Rome. Produced by Patara; Directed by Milla Pastorino
• Sarai Sherman - Painting, 1971/76/77. Rome. Produced by Di Ciaula, Directed by Libero Bizzarri