Barbara Ann Lekberg (née Barbara Ann Hult; March 19, 1925 – February 14, 2018) was an American sculptor.

Early life and education

Barbara Lekberg was born as Barbara Ann Hult on March 19, 1925, in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. Her mother was music teacher Mildred Anderson, and her father was in the family lumber business, Melvin Hult. She spent her early childhood in Oregon, and later in Illinois and Iowa. Lekberg attended

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

, studying sculpture under ,

Philip Guston Philip Guston (born Phillip Goldstein, June 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980) was a Canadian American painter, printmaker, muralist and draftsman. "Guston worked in a number of artistic modes, from Renaissance-inspired figuration to formally accomplis ...

, and

Mauricio Lasansky Mauricio Leib Lasansky (October 12, 1914 – April 2, 2012) was an Argentine artist and educator known both for his advanced techniques in intaglio printmaking and for a series of 33 pencil drawings from the 1960s titled "The Nazi Drawings." ...

. She graduated in 1946 with a B.A. degree in sculpture, and in 1947 with a M.A. degree in art history. She moved to New York City in the late 1940s. Lekberg studied at The Clay Club (now known as the

SculptureCenter SculptureCenter is a not-for-profit, contemporary art museum located in Long Island City, Queens, New York City. It was founded in 1928 as "The Clay Club" by Dorothea Denslow. In 2013, SculptureCentre attracted around 13,000 visitors.Randy Kenned ...

), under

Sahl Swarz Sahl Swarz (May 4, 1912 – October 24, 2004) was an American sculptor and arts educator. His preferred materials were steel and bronze. Biography Sahl Swarz was born on May 4, 1912, in New York City, to Jewish emigrants to the United States fr ...

and learned how to weld steel sculptures.

Career

Her first solo exhibition was in 1959 at the SculptureCenter. She made large figurative metal sculptors, often involving draped fabrics. Lekberg taught classes at the University of the Arts, from 1981 to 2001. She was a member of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

. Lekberg was awarded the

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in fine arts two times (1957, 1959).

Personal life

In 1956, she married Victor Tamerlis, a rare-books dealer and together they lived in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

. They had a daughter born in 1962, Zoe Tamerlis Lund. The short film ''Zoe Rising'' (2014), documented their daughter's life through the memories of Barbara Lekberg. Lekberg died on February 14, 2018, in a nursing home in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, after struggling with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lekberg, Barbara 1925 births 2018 deaths University of Iowa alumni Artists from Portland, Oregon Sculptors from New York City Deaths from dementia in New York (state) Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in New York (state) 21st-century American women sculptors 21st-century American sculptors