Irene Monat Stern (1932-2010) was a Poland-born American artist who spent her working life in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Known for her abstract paintings, her works have been displayed and collected across the United States; from The Esther-Robles Gallery in

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, to the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

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, to the

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed ...

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's permanent collection.

Early life and education

Stern (née Monat) was born in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in 1932, 7 years before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After surviving the Holocaust, a 16-year-old Stern moved to

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and then to

, where she met sculptor and future husband,

Jan Peter Stern Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

(1926-2004). While living in New York, Stern took art classes at the

New York School for Social Research The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, and the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

. In 1965 the Sterns moved across the United States and settled in

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, a relocation that would lead to their breakthroughs as artists. The couple shared a symbiotic artistic relationship and exhibited together throughout their careers.

Career

Stern enjoyed early success in her watercolors, the techniques of which would heavily influence her later, more prolific acrylic works. During the 1970s she exhibited extensively on the east and west coasts, her work frequently drawing comparisons to that of contemporary Color Field artists

Morris Louis Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D ...

and

Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...

. On the relationship between Stern and Morris, one critic wrote: "…the statements both artists make about the nature of paint differ. Louis' stains and pours often follow the force of gravity, so that paint appears to be drawn by its own pull towards the periphery of the canvas. Stern, on the other hand, makes acrylic seem weightless. It floats on white pristine canvas. It masses into rich areas with a spatial depth that Louis' works lack. It is forced onto the surface in many directions by an energy source beyond the paintings' edges." Stern is identified with pure abstract forms of semi-translucent color on large, unprimed canvases. Commentators have recurrently suggested her subject matter is floral, despite no affirmation of such from the artist. In 1974 Stern partook in the "

Childe Hassam Frederick Childe Hassam (; October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionis ...

Purchase Award Exhibition" at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York. Her first solo exhibition, ''Irene Monat Stern: Paintings'', took place at The Downtown Gallery in

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, in 1975. In 1981 the Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden acquired three of her large-scale paintings. Stern's painting activity significantly declined in the 1980s as she became her husband's primary caregiver following his diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. In 2011 Stern contributed a chapter to the volume ''How We Survived– 52 Personal Stories by Child Survivors of the Holocaust''.

Exhibitions

* Metropolitan Museum of Art Lecture Series, "Into the 60s – Modern Painting and Sculpture." * ''Annual Invitational Group Exhibition'', Esther-Robles Gallery, Los Angeles, August–September, 1973. * ''Color '73'', Brandt Library and Art Museum,

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, January 7–26, 1973. * ''Childe Hassam Purchase Award Exhibition'',

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 ...

, New York, 1974. * ''Irene Monat Stern: Paintings'', The Downtown Gallery, Honolulu, Hawaii, December 17, 1974 – January 3, 1975. * ''Irene Monat Stern: Acrylic Paintings'', Source Gallery,

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, May 9-June 18, 1975. * ''Jan Peter Stern and Irene Monat Stern'',

The 26th Street Gallery ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...

, CA, February 1979. * ''Additional Space Exposé IV'',

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

(Art Rental Gallery), July 18- August 30, 1981. * ''Irene Monat Stern and Jan Peter Stern'',

Park Avenue Atrium A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

, New York, November-Spring, 1984. * ''Irene Monat Stern'', Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, September 8-October 6, 2016.

References

Sources

* ''Life Magazine'', March 24, 1972, pg. 61–62. * Wilson, William, "Seven Local Artists at Library Center," ''The Los Angeles Times'', January 15, 1973, pg. 53. * Raymond, Barry, "Joseph H. Lancor, AIA: Santa Fe Federal Savings & Loan, Del Mar Branch," ''Interiors'', vol. 137, 1977, pg. 72. * Dunham, Judith L., "Irene Monat Stern Paintings," ''Artweek'', May 31, 1975. {{DEFAULTSORT:Monat Stern, Irene 1932 births 2010 deaths American contemporary art American contemporary painters Polish contemporary artists 21st-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish painters Polish emigrants to the United States 20th-century Polish women artists 21st-century Polish women artists