Artistic Wilmington Family Featured In Art Show
The Delaware Jewish community has long been engaged with the Arts. Twenty-five years ago, one family’s creative legacy was recognized in an exhibition, “Artistic Connections: One Century of a Family’s Involvement in Art.” Learn more about these artists, and other noteworthy contributions to the arts scene by visiting the Jewish Historical Society of Delaware’s website, http://jhsdelaware.org/jewish-voice.
Artistic Wilmington Family Featured In Art Show At U.D.’s Arsht Hall thru Oct. 29
By BETH THOMAS
Three generations of artists from one family are represented in “Artistic Connections: One Century of a Family’s Involvement in Art,” an exhibition at Arsht Hall on the University of Delaware’s Wilmington campus, 2700 Pennsylvania Ave.
The exhibition includes paintings by Delawareans Ruth E. Berger, Dr. Norman L. Cannon, Maura E. Golin and the late Clara Finkelstein, an early member of the Wilmington Studio Group. Sculpture by Carol Berger Hershman, now a resident of Seattle, also is featured in the show.
A time span of nearly 100 years is represented by this multi-generational art exhibition. Finkelstein who immigrated to the United States from Russia with her parents in 1893 studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and with M.A. Renzetti and N.C. Wyeth.
A summer resident of Arden, a creative center for artists and writers in the early decades of this century, Finkelstein painted memories from childhood and from the stories of her parents’ experiences in Russia. She demonstrated her interest in the arts to her nieces and nephews and imparted in them a passion and talent that has, in tum, been inherited by succeeding generations.
Paintings by Berger, Cannon and Golin, members of the second generation who are nieces and a nephew of Finkelstein, also are included in the exhibit. All three artists are Wilmington natives, and their work has been exhibited frequently throughout the area.
Berger’s paintings have been shown exclusively in the Philadelphia area. She is a graduate of the University of Delaware and also studied at the Corcoran School of Art and the Tyler School of Fine Art in Philadelphia. She also works in printmaking and fiber art.
Golin’s work is owned by several embassies throughout the world. She studied art history at the University of Pennsylvania, graduated from the Philadelphia College of Art and did graduate work at the University of North Carolina. In her painting, she works through relationships of color forms to express the poetry of seemingly commonplace items.
Cannon, also a graduate of the University of Delaware, earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He has pursued his study of art for over 30 years. He has combined sketching and painting with travel, and some of his outdoor paining experiences in Wilmington, Canada and New England are reflected in this exhibit.
Hershman, a sculptor, represents the third generation of artists in this family. A Philadelphian since early childhood, she graduated from the Tyler School of Fine Arts and did postgraduate work with Gerd Utecher. Hershman works in a variety of media, including bone, stone, epoxy resin, cast aluminum and mixed media. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe and is included in many private and corporate collections.
For more information, call (302) 831-8839.
ARTISTIC CONNECTIONS:
ONE CENTURY OF A FAMILY’S INVOLVEMENT IN ART
OCTOBER 3-29, 1993
S. SAMUEL AND ROXANA C. ARSHT HALL
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
WILMINGTON CAMPUS
THIS EXHIBITION HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE BY A GENEROUS ANONYMOUS DONOR TO WHOM THE PARTICIPANTS AND THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE ARE EXTREMELY GRATEFUL.
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND A
RECEPTION FOR THE ARTISTS
ON
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1993
FROM
3-5 P.M.
S. SAMUEL AND ROXANA C. ARSHT HALL
PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, WILMINGTON, DELAWARE
LIGHT REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED.
The exhibition is being held at the S. Samuel and Roxana C. Arsht Hall in commemoration of the second anniversary of the opening of the building. Arsht Hall was named for Judge Roxana C, Arsht, a member of the artists family and niece of Clara Finkelstein, and her husband. Mr. S. Samuel Arsht.
Arsht Hall is located on the University of Delaware’s Wllmmgton Campus. 2700 Pennsylvania Avenue (Route 52 North) in Wilmington Delaware. Arsht Hall is Just a few miles from 1-95 approximately 60 minutes driving time from Philadelphia. For additional information call 302/83 1-8839.
ARTISTIC CONNECTIONS: ONE CENTURY OF A FAMILY’S INVOLVEMENT IN ART
A time span of nearly one hundred years is represented in this multi-generational art exhibition showcasing the creative outpourings of one family.
Five artists from three generations in this artistic Delaware family share a lifelong appreciation and study of art and a passionate interest in creating it. Though these artists are connected by family bonds, their work is quite diverse and truly represents five individual artists.
Clara Finkelstein, who immigrated to Delaware from Russia with her parents in 1893, represents the first generation of artists exhibited here. As a newcomer to the United States, Mrs. Finkelstein recalled her family’s experiences in Russia and as immigrants in a new country, and translated these into painting. A painter and supporter of the arts, Clara Finkelstein demonstrated to her nieces and nephews a genuine appreciation of artistic endeavors. They in tum passed that appreciation on to the following generation.
The four other artists-Ruth E. Berger, Norman L. Cannon, Maura E. Golin and Carol Berger Hershman-represent the second and third generations of family artists. They have each pursued the study of art in formal settings, which in part accounts for the quality of their work. They also learned from previous
generations, perhaps by example, that painting, drawing, and sculpting can serve as a profound means of expression. Through their work, they translate life’s experiences into an aesthetic and narrative object, like their aunt, Clara Finkelstein, did before them.
CLARA FINKELSTEIN
Born in Russia in 1885, Clara Finkelstein immigrated to the United States with her parents in 1893 and settled in Wilmington, Delaware. In the 1920s she and her husband, I. B. Finkelstein, bought a summer home in Arden. Delaware. It was in Arden. known then as a haven for writers and artists, where her interest in art was able to flourish. She started painting seriously and to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and with M . A . Renzetti and N. C. Wyeth.
An active member of the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts, Clara Finkelstein was also one of the early members of the Studio Group in Wilmington. Her work was frequently exhibited locally and in Philadelphia, where she was a member of the Philadelphia Art Alliance. Clara Finkelstein and her husband were also instrumental in the development of the Brandywine Arts Festival.
Mrs. Finkelstein painted from life and was influenced by the naturalism of the Ashcan School d social realist painters of the 1930s. She drew upon her lifetime experiences for her painting subjects; personal stories and memories from childhood w ere among her favorite themes.
RUTH EUSTER BERGER
A native of Wilmington, Ruth E .. Berger graduated from the University of Delaware with degrees in art and education. After graduation, she taught art in the Wilmington public schools. She studied painting at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. , and print making at Temple University’s Tyler School of Fine Art and at the Philadelphia Museum school.
Ruth Berger has had many solo exhibits and her paintings, prints, and fiber art have been widely shown in galleries and museums in the Philadelphia area. Through her art, she seeks to express a concern for the human experience in all of its variety.
NORMAN L. CANNON
A retired Wilmington doctor and medical administrator, Dr. Norman L. Cannon has always insisted on reserving time for his painting. At an early stage of this
lifelong interest, he showed some work to his aunt, Clara Finkelstein. who encouraged him and suggested that he continue with lessons. So began his thirty-eight year involvement with painting.
A graduate of the University of Delaware in 1933, Dr. Cannon earned a masters degree and a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1933 and 1937, respectively. His artistic education began in Arden, Delaware where he took children’s art classes, studying sculpture with M.A. Renzetti and painting and drawing with Walter Kumme. Since this early exposure to painting and sculpture, Dr. Cannon has pursued his artistic education at the Delaware Art Center and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he took evening sculpture classes. For the past twenty-five years he has studied painting with Ed Loper, Sr. traveling, sketching, and painting whenever he had an opportunity, painting became an absorbing and exciting hobby for Dr. Cannon. Outdoor painting experiences in Wilmington, Quebec City, and New England are represented in this exhibit, along with painting scenes in Puerto Rico
and Antigua.
Dr. Cannon’s work has been shown in exhibits at Luther Towers, the Wilmington Public Library, and in a group exhibition at the Warehouse Gallery in Arden. Several of his works are displayed at the Medical Center of Delaware.
CAROL BERGER HERSHMAN
A former Philadelphian, Carol Hershman now lives and works in Seattle, Washington. As a sculptor, she works with a variety of materials including bone, stone, epoxy resin, cast aluminum, and mixed media. Two of Mrs. Hershman’s jewelry pieces also appear in the exhibition. The necklaces include hand-blown glass beads and hand-carved bone figures.
A graduate of Tyler School of Fine Arts at Temple University, Carol Hershman has also studied at Bard College and did post graduate work with the sculptor Gerd Utescher. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe and is included in many private and corporate collections.
Her daughter, Carla Hershman, is continuing the family tradition by studying painting at Mills College in California. Her paintings represent the fourth generation of artists in this family.
MAURA EUSTER GOLIN
Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Maura E, Golin began painting as a scholarship student in the children’s art classes at the Delaware Art Museum She pursued her interest in art at the University of Pennsylvania where she studied Art History, and graduated from the Philadelphia College of Art. She did graduate work at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and has studied with Sam Feinstein in Philadelphia.
Maura Golin’s woodcuts and paintings are included in numerous private collections, as well as the University of Delaware and embassies in Greece, Japan, Panama, and the Peoples Republic of China.
As an artist, she strives to build a radiant, harmonious image through relationships of color forms. Using painting as her vehicle of expression, she extracts and reveals the poetry of her world.