Bernard Simon

Bernard Simon
Born	(1896-01-06)January 6, 1896 Yedinitz, Bessarabia, Russia
Died	January 1980 (aged 83–84) New York City
Nationality	Russian-American
Education	Educational Alliance, New York, New School for Social Research, New York
Style	Modernist, Figurative, Abstract expressionism
Spouse	Edna Simon
Signature

Bernard Simon (1896–1980) was a modernist sculptor from Yedinitz, Bessarabia. He came to New York in 1912 and was part of a Jewish community of artists in Brooklyn. Simon taught sculpture at the Bayonne Art Center, N.J., the Educational Alliance, N.Y., the Museum of Modern Art, N.Y., and at the New School for Social Research, N.Y.^[1] He sought to quell the debate between abstract expressionism and realism in figurative sculpture during the 1950s^[1] and facilitated community building among artists.

Biography

Bernard Simon (1896-1980) was raised in Yedinitz, a village in former Bessarabia^[2] under Soviet control. Simon's father died when he was 12 years old, leaving him and his mother to support themselves. In 1912, Simon's mother sent him to New York to avoid Russia's draft for the impending World War. In the city, Simon found financial stability working at the family laundry and later in sales. He married Edna Simon and had a daughter, Ruth. However, as the Great Depression took hold, his businesses began to struggle. It wasn't until trying to entertain his sick daughter that Simon made a few clay figures and then some family portraits. Suddenly, he was deeply committed to sculpting, which sparked a long career of teaching, making, and exhibiting work until his death in New York City in 1980.

Career

In 1938, Simon came to Chaim Gross at the Educational Alliance, New York, with a small, modeled figure of clay asking to be permitted as a student, despite being older than Gross.^[1] Simon was quickly integrated into the community here, and his skill increased rapidly. Simon's career in sculpture consisted of figurative work, as he participated between the Abstract Expressionist Movement and Impressionistic Realism. Simon and Gross built a friendship that resulted in their spending every summer at the abstract expressionist art colony in Provincetown, MA.

In the early 1950s, Simon spent a decade as the Vice President, Treasurer, and Board Member of the New York Artists Equity Association,^[3] which was founded in 1947 by 160 artists including Edward Hopper and Yasuo Kuniyoshi.^[4] Simon tried to "influence [the organization's] future in protection of artists in a world where patronage no longer exists."^[1] The association opened the Broome Street Gallery and exhibited work by notable artists including Noguchi, Willem de Kooning, and Chaim Gross. Simon's decade of leadership roles coupled with the relationships he built his whole career assisted in steering the Artist's Equity in a direction that encouraged the unification of a variety of artists.^[1]

By 1977, Simon had exhibited his sculpture in 40 one-man shows.^[5]

Memberships

• Allied Artists of America
• American Society of Contemporary Artists
• Artists Equity Association - Treasurer, Vice President, and member of the Board of Directors
• Artists Group, Provincetown, Mass.
• Cape Cod Art Association
• Provincetown Art Asocciation
• Silvermine Guild of Artists

Group exhibitions

• 1958 Silvermine Guild exhibition, Sculpture for the Garden^[6]
• 1958, Selected Minna Hirkavy as his 'guest' to feature for the Silvermine Guild's exhibition, Be My Guest^[7]
• 1959, the Silvermine Guild's Vassos Gallery alongside the contemporary realist painter, Elizabeth Barker^[8]
• 1960, the National Exhibition of the Sarasota Art Association^[9]

• 1961, the outdoor exhibition at Mari Gallery (Woodstock, New York)^[10]
• 1969, the Berryman Galleries in Endicott, New York^[11]
• Allied Artists^[1]
• American Art at Mid Century^[1]
• American Society of Contemporary Artists^[1]
• Museum of Natural History (N.Y.)^[1]
• Provincetown Art Association (Provincetown, Mass.)^[1]
• Whitney Museum of American Art (N.Y.)^[1]

The Artist Colony

In 1945, Simon joined Chaim Gross for a summer visit to the artist colony in Provincetown. After this initial visit, his wife and children accompanied him to see friends and artists in Provincetown every summer thereafter. Simon's sculpture, El Torro, is featured in the permanent Provincetown Art Collection.^[12]

Legacy and Influence

Simon had an interest in resolving the debate between abstract expressionism and Realism. He believed artists needed to stay united. Simon exhibited and worked with these artist-run groups: the American Society of Contemporary Artists, the Allied Artists of America, New York Artists Equity Association, etc.^[13] In 1959, he had won awards for three consecutive years at Artists Equity, Audubon Artists, New Jersey Painters and Sculptors Society, Silvermine Guild, Knickerbocker Artists and others.^[14] He was represented in a variety of private collections.^[1]

Permanent Collections

• Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va.^[1]
• Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, N.Y.^[1]
• Fairleigh Dickenson University, N.J.^[1]
• Harvard Art Museums, Fogg Museum, Boston, Mass.^[1]
• Heritage Museum, Provincetown, Mass.[1]
• Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, Conn.^[1]

Awards

• ACA gallery competition winner in 1949 and in 1952 alongside Jim Gellert^[13]
• American Society of Contemporary Artists, 1968
• Artists Equity Association
• Audubon Artists, 1952, 1962
• Knickerbocker Artists, 1957
• Painters and Sculptors Society of New Jersey, 1960, 1965
• Silvermine Guild of Artists

Reviews

• The New York Times^[1]
• The New York Herald Tribune^[1]
• The New York Post, Emily Gennauer^[1]
• The Miami Herald^[1]

Gallery

• 
  Lover's Embrace, Bernard Simon, Front Close Up
• 
  Lover's Embrace, Bernard Simon, Front
• 
  Lover's Embrace, Bernard Simon, Back

References