Respondent
Koerner, Henry
Interview Date
December, 1978
Abstract
Henry Koerner, an artist who has had successful showings in Europe, paintings in the Whitney Museum of Art, Lincoln University and Avery Fisher Hall, and was commissioned by <i>Time</i> magazine to do cover drawings; birth year, 1915;
[T1S1] family history; locations of living relatives; his Jewish upbringing in Austria; painting Robert and Jack Kennedy; personal opinions on development of criminality, genius, the reasons for Hitler's success and public relations; his relationship with his only brother; religious education; views about Christ;
[T1S2] recollections of Jewish professors, learning Hebrew; leaves Austria in 1937; spends time in Italy, 1938; personal opinions about saving himself from the Holocaust, Marc Chagall, Christian concepts of God; his particular style of art; father's employment; family financial struggles;
[T2S3] recollections of Austria, beautiful girls; his preference in writers; class struggles in Vienna; his brother's life; "the Stern gang", Herzl and Jabotinsky; hiking around Italy; disparity between rich and poor Jews in Europe;
[T2S4] the Jewish concept of the true meaning of God; its influence on his art; leaving his family behind in Austria; receiving aid from Italian Jews during his stay there; residence and work in Venice and Milan; his friendship with Sam Rosenberg; becomes a serious painter while in the United States Army; his marriage the summer after he comes to the United States;
[T3S5] life in New York; co-author of a book with Sam Rosenberg, <i>Unfinished Sentence</i>; prizewinner for national cancer poster; the draft and basic training at Ft. Benning, GA; his first art show of note, Berlin, 1947; divorce of first wife; girlfriends in Germany; drawing Goering and Goebbels at Nuremberg Trials; traumatic return to Vienna;
[T3S6] employment at Pennsylvania College for Women in Pittsburgh as Artist in Residence, 1952; residence in Hotel Edison; becomes interested in musical instruments; his trip to Vienna inspires hundreds of drawings; his second marriage in 1953; birth of children; assignment to do cover for <i>Time</i> magazine; his friendship with Henry Grunewald; views about the mystery of genius, compared to pregnancy; effects of age on his art; children's education; opinions of Pittsburgh, the Jewish community; the Bible as a graven image.
[T4S7]
[T1S1] family history; locations of living relatives; his Jewish upbringing in Austria; painting Robert and Jack Kennedy; personal opinions on development of criminality, genius, the reasons for Hitler's success and public relations; his relationship with his only brother; religious education; views about Christ;
[T1S2] recollections of Jewish professors, learning Hebrew; leaves Austria in 1937; spends time in Italy, 1938; personal opinions about saving himself from the Holocaust, Marc Chagall, Christian concepts of God; his particular style of art; father's employment; family financial struggles;
[T2S3] recollections of Austria, beautiful girls; his preference in writers; class struggles in Vienna; his brother's life; "the Stern gang", Herzl and Jabotinsky; hiking around Italy; disparity between rich and poor Jews in Europe;
[T2S4] the Jewish concept of the true meaning of God; its influence on his art; leaving his family behind in Austria; receiving aid from Italian Jews during his stay there; residence and work in Venice and Milan; his friendship with Sam Rosenberg; becomes a serious painter while in the United States Army; his marriage the summer after he comes to the United States;
[T3S5] life in New York; co-author of a book with Sam Rosenberg, <i>Unfinished Sentence</i>; prizewinner for national cancer poster; the draft and basic training at Ft. Benning, GA; his first art show of note, Berlin, 1947; divorce of first wife; girlfriends in Germany; drawing Goering and Goebbels at Nuremberg Trials; traumatic return to Vienna;
[T3S6] employment at Pennsylvania College for Women in Pittsburgh as Artist in Residence, 1952; residence in Hotel Edison; becomes interested in musical instruments; his trip to Vienna inspires hundreds of drawings; his second marriage in 1953; birth of children; assignment to do cover for <i>Time</i> magazine; his friendship with Henry Grunewald; views about the mystery of genius, compared to pregnancy; effects of age on his art; children's education; opinions of Pittsburgh, the Jewish community; the Bible as a graven image.
[T4S7]
Subjects
Artists; Arts; Austria; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); National socialism; Rosenberg, Samuel, 1896-1972
Birth Date
1915
Country
Austria
Profession
Artist
Work
Time Magazine
Length (hours)
4
Interviewer1
Alpern, Betty
Interviewer2
Hurwitz, Linda
Indexer
Reynolds, Jacqueline
Collateral Materials
Box 103 FF 8
Identifier
ais196440.243
Rights
All rights reserved. University of Pittsburgh
Reproductions