Eugenia Berlin (1905–2003) was a Russian-born Canadian sculptor, painter, designer and director.

Biography

Education and training

Berlin was born in

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and immigrated to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, Canada in 1925. She studied sculpture, drawing, and design at the L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Geneva, Switzerland under James Vibert and Valentine Métein-Gilliard and privately under William Métein. She attended

Central Technical School Central Technical School is a Canadian composite high school in Toronto, Ontario. The school is run by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB); before 1998, it was run by the Toronto Board of Education (TBE). Central Tech is located in the H ...

in Toronto, studying under Elizabeth Wyn Wood and

Bobs Coghill Haworth Barbara "Bobs" Cogill Haworth (1900 – 1988) was a South African–born Canadian painter and potter. She practiced mainly in Toronto, living and working with her husband, painter and teacher Peter Haworth. She was a member of the Canadian Gro ...

. At the Chouinard School of Art, Berlin studied under

Alexander Archipenko Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian-American avant-garde artist, sculpture, sculptor, and graphic designer, graphic artist, active in France and the United States. He was one of the first to apply the principles o ...

and attended the Alexander Archipenko School in New York City. Berlin's primary discipline was sculpture but she also worked in mixed media, pottery, watercolour, and painting. She practised, and was friends, with some of the pre-eminent artists in Canadian history:

Emanuel Hahn Emanuel Otto Hahn (30 May 1881 – 14 February 1957) was a German-born Canadian sculptor and coin designer. He taught and later married Elizabeth Wyn Wood. He co-founded and was the first president of the Sculptors' Society of Canada. Biograp ...

Elizabeth Wyn Wood Elizabeth Winnifred Wood (October 8, 1903 – January 27, 1966), known as Elizabeth Wyn Wood, was a Canadian sculptor and advocate of art education. A notable figure in Canadian sculpture, she is primarily known for her modernist interpretation ...

Jacobine Jones Phyllis Jacobine Jones (1897–1976) was a sculptor. She was born in England, but emigrated to Canada in 1932. Career Jones traveled around Denmark, Italy and France with her mother for years until, at 28, she studied casting, carving, and ...

Frances Loring Frances Norma Loring LL. D. (October 14, 1887– February 5, 1968) was a Canadian sculptor. Biography Loring was born in Wardner, Idaho on October 14, 1887 to mining engineer Frank Curtis Loring (1859-1938) and Charlotte Moore.Amy Marshall Furne ...

and

Florence Wyle Florence Norma Wyle (November 14, 1881 – January 14, 1968) was an American-Canadian sculptor, designer and poet; a pioneer of the Canadian art scene. She practiced chiefly in Toronto, living and working with her partner Frances Loring, with w ...

, as well as artists that included Albert Jacques Franck, EB Cox, AJ Casson,

Paraskeva Clark Paraskeva Clark (October 28, 1898 – August 10, 1986) was a painter. who believed that "an artist must act as a witness to class struggle and other societal issues." She was a member of the Canadian Group of Painters, the Canadian Society of Pai ...

Harold Town Harold Barling Town, D.Litt (June 13, 1924 – December 27, 1990) was a Canadian artist who worked in many different media and modes, but is best known for his abstract paintings. He was a member of Painters Eleven, an abstract g ...

, AY Jackson, JWG Macdonald and

Doris McCarthy Doris McCarthy, LL. D. (July 7, 1910 – November 25, 2010) was a Canadian artist known for her abstracted landscapes. In a 2004 interview with Harold Klunder, the artist remarked:I was influenced very strongly by the tradition of going out int ...

Exhibitions

Berlin exhibited at the National Art Gallery of Canada,

Royal Canadian Academy The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square Mile stretch of Sherbrooke Street west. The MMFA ...

, London Regional Art Gallery,

Art Gallery of Hamilton The Art Gallery of Hamilton (AGH) is an art museum located in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The museum occupies a building on King Street (Hamilton, Ontario), King Street West in downtown Hamilton, designed by Trevor P. Garwood-Jon ...

Art Gallery of Toronto The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...

, Hart House at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Exhibition of Canadian Art in Paris 1946, Toronto Winter Fair, King City Public Library (solo exhibition); Eaton's Art Gallery, Roberts Gallery (1959), J.M. Dent and Sons, and the Canadian Portrait Academy.

Private life

Berlin was of Jewish descent and classified her occupations as 'teacher' and 'social worker' in a Canadian and U.S. Border Crossing Declaration in 1943. She remained single her entire life and lived with her brother, the noted Russian-Canadian composer and musician

Boris Berlin Boris Berlin (27 May 1907 – 24 March 2001) was a Canadian pianist, music educator, arranger, and composer of Russian birth. He is primarily remembered for his work within the field of piano pedagogy, having published an extensive amount of mat ...

, at Ferndale Ave, Toronto, then at 341 Bloor Street. Towards the end of her life Berlin lived at Seven Oaks, a long-term care home located at 9 Neilson Road, Toronto.

Career and honours

Berlin won a prize at the Toronto Winter Fair for her outdoor garden sculpture and two animal figures which were reproduced in "Canadian Art." During Berlin's forty year plus career she was appointed Director of the Saturday Morning Club at the

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

, a position she held until her retirement. In 2000 Berlin was honoured by the Canadian Portrait Academy as honorary

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. Accor ...

Collections

Berlin is represented with sculptures in the National Gallery of Canada with her portrait of Dr.

Marius Barbeau Charles Marius Barbeau, (March 5, 1883 – February 27, 1969), also known as C. Marius Barbeau, or more commonly simply Marius Barbeau, was a Canadians, Canadian ethnographer and folklorist who is today considered a founder of Canadian anthr ...

and in the Corbet Collection of Canadian Women Artists with "Mourning Doves".

Notes

References

* Baker, Victoria. ''Emmanuel Hahn and Elizabeth Wyn Wood: Tradition and Innovation in Canadian Sculpture.'' Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1997. * "Eagle- illustration." Canadian Art 8.2 (Spring 1951): 122. * "Monkeys-Illustration." Canadian Art 8.2 (Spring 1953): 67. Hill, C.C. and P.B. Landry, eds. National Gallery Catalogue, Canadian Art. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1988. * McMann, Evelyn de Rostaing. Royal Canadian Academy of Arts/Académie royale des arts du Canada: Exhibitions and Members 1880–1979. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981. * Ross, Malcolm ed. "Sculpture." The Arts in Canada. Toronto: Macmillan, 1958. * http://www.toronto.ca/ltc/sevenoaks.htm * A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1–8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online only), by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker * National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada

External links

Eugenia Berlin at the National Gallery of Canada

Canadian Women Artists History Initiative listing for Eugenia Berlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin, Eugenia 1905 births 2003 deaths Ukrainian Jews 20th-century Canadian sculptors 20th-century Canadian women artists Soviet emigrants to Canada