Manuel Abraham Bromberg (March 6, 1917 – February 3, 2022) was an American artist and educator. He served in the United States Army as

Official War Artist A war artist is an artist either commissioned by a government or publication, or self-motivated, to document first-hand experience of war in any form of illustrative or depictive record.Imperial War Museum (IWM)header phrase, "war shapes lives" ...

for the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater (warfare), theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It command ...

during World War II. Bromberg was a Professor Emeritus of Art, at the

State University of New York at New Paltz The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an ...

. He was a 1946

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

Life

Bromberg was born in

Centerville, Iowa Centerville is a city in and the county seat of Appanoose County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,412 in the 2020 census, a decline from 5,924 in 2000. After the turn of the 20th century Centerville's coal mining industry attracted ...

, to David Bromberg, an immigrant from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and Tonata Sobul, an immigrant from

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 ...

. At the age of 16, Bromberg was chosen the winner of the prestigious

George Bellows George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realism, American realist painting, painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art ...

Award, a national art competition among high school students. First prize was a year's scholarship to the Pratt Institute in New York City, but he opted instead to accept a full scholarship to the

Cleveland School of Art The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focused on art and design and located in Cleveland, Ohio. History The college was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, at f ...

. He studied at the

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College (FAC) is an arts center located just north of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. Located on the same city block are the American Numismatic Association and part of the campus of Colorado ...

, with

Boardman Robinson Boardman "Mike" Michael Robinson (1876–1952) was a Canadian-born American painter, illustrator and cartoonist. Biography Early years Boardman Robinson was born September 6, 1876, in Nova Scotia. He spent his childhood in England and Canada, ...

and

Henry Varnum Poor Henry Varnum Poor (December 8, 1812 – January 4, 1905) was an American financial analyst and founder of H.V. and H.W. Poor Co, which later evolved into the financial research and analysis bellwether, Standard & Poor's. Biography Born in East ...

, from 1932 to 1940. Bromberg completed three murals for the New Deal's

Section of Fine Arts Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

Greybull, Wyoming Greybull is a town in central Big Horn County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,651 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Clima ...

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; , ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century Cherokee Nation in 1839, as p ...

, and

Geneva, Illinois Geneva is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Illinois, United States. It is located in the far western side of the Chicago suburbs. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 21,393. Geneva is part of a Tri-Ci ...

. Bromberg married Jane Dow in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...

, in December 1941. In 1943, at the age of 26, Bromberg was appointed by

George Biddle George Biddle (January 24, 1885 – November 6, 1973) was an American painter, muralist and lithographer, best known for his social realism and combat art. A childhood friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he played a major role in establis ...

, chairman of the War Department Art Advisory Board, as an

official war artist A war artist is an artist either commissioned by a government or publication, or self-motivated, to document first-hand experience of war in any form of illustrative or depictive record.Imperial War Museum (IWM)header phrase, "war shapes lives" ...

. Bromberg was assigned to serve with the European Theater of Operations (England, France and Germany) and landed on

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies of World War II, Allies invaded German military administration in occupied Fra ...

in June 1944. While in France, Bromberg met

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

, and

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

. In 1944, he was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

. Bromberg taught at

Salem College Salem College is a private women's liberal arts college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1772 as a primary school, it later became an academy (high school) and ultimately added the college. It is the oldest female educational esta ...

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

College of Design, from 1949 to 1954, where he collaborated with

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

and others to form Skybreak Carolina Corp. In 1953, Bromberg was commissioned to create a mural for the student union building of NCSU. In the 1960s, while Professor of Painting at the

, Bromberg created a series of monumentally-scaled castings of cliff faces. One of Bromberg's cliff sculptures appears in the permanent collection of

Storm King Art Center Storm King Art Center, commonly called Storm King and named for nearby Storm King Mountain, is an open-air museum in New Windsor, New York. It contains perhaps the largest collection of contemporary outdoor sculptures in the United States. F ...

. Bromberg lived in

. He

turned 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

in March 2017, and died on February 3, 2022, at the age of 104.

References

External links

Guide to the Photograph of Manuel Bromberg 1965
*http://arts.guardian.co.uk/pictures/0,8542,1217134,00.html *http://library.brown.edu/cds/askb/artists_index.html *http://rwebs.net/avhistory/wwiiart.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Bromberg, Manuel 1917 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters American men centenarians American male painters United States Army personnel of World War II American muralists American people of German descent American people of Polish descent Section of Painting and Sculpture artists North Carolina State University faculty Painters from Iowa People from Centerville, Iowa Recipients of the Legion of Merit Salem College faculty State University of New York at New Paltz faculty World War II artists 20th-century American war artists United States Army non-commissioned officers 20th-century American male artists