Art Brenner (1924–2013) was an American abstract

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, he lived and worked in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from 1964 to 2012. He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in cities such as

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Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

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, Brest,

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, and

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. His work is in public collections in France, Spain, and the United States (

Rose Art Museum The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from its permanent co ...

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...

;

Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionism, Impressionist paintings, Hudson Riv ...

, Hartford, Conn.;

Anchorage Museum of History and Art Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan ...

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

). He was also the subject of a short CNN film, "An American Sculptor in Paris" (1995). The French government has honored him by inducting him as a "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres", the French equivalent of induction into the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

Concern with sculptural monumentality and architecture

As a sculptor whose works are frequently large and created for public, architectural settings, Brenner wrote a 1971 article for ''Leonardo'' magazine (MIT Press

entitled "Concerning Sculpture and Architecture", in which he observes that "the monumental scale of modern sculpture... has quickly moved sculpture from the private to the public sector, that is toward a renewal of its relation with architecture." He also notes that "It has been argued that modern architecture by its very nature, its functionalism and purity, has little need for sculpture." Rejecting this analysis, he nevertheless acknowledges that the aesthetic values of modern architecture do require a careful approach to the use of monumental sculpture in conjunction with modern buildings, and that "architects should engage sculptors as essential members of a team" (p. 99).

References

*Art Brenner; Galerie Lucien Durand. ''Art Brenner, Galerie Lucien Durand ...

... du 2 mai au 27 mai 1967 ...'

(

, Galerie L. Durand, 1967) *U.S. Centre culturel américain,

. ''Trois américains : Art Brenner,

Robert Colescott Robert H. Colescott (August 26, 1925 – June 4, 2009) was an American Painting, painter. He is known for Satire, satirical genre and crowd subjects, often conveying his exuberant, comical, or bitter reflections on being African American. He stud ...

, Elaine Hamilton.- Exposition à Paris, Centre culturel américain, 26 février-26 mars 1969''

xhibition catalogue in French(

, Centre culturel américain, 1969) *Art Brenner. "Concerning Sculpture and Architecture" ournal article''Leonardo'', Volume 4, pp. 99–107, MIT Press (originally Pergamon Press, London), 1971 (printed in Great Britain).

External links

official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brenner, Art 1924 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists 21st-century American sculptors 21st-century American male artists American male sculptors