Phyllis Wiener
Encyclopedia
Phyllis Wiener is an American painter
. Wiener is one of the first women artist to embrace the Abstract Art
Movement in Minnesota.
at the University of Iowa
, 1940; Russel Green at Stephens Columbia College (Missouri), 1944; Cameron Booth at University of Minnesota
in Minneapolis, 1950- 1953 & 1960-1962: and the Instituto Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, 1961.Her first group exhibition was in Boulder, CO with the Boulder Artist's Guild in 1941. By 1944 her art had reached all regions of the United States
. Then from 1954 - 1959 the American Federations of Arts Traveling Exhibition included her artworks. Under the U.S. State Department in 9162 her paintings were in a group exhibition that toured American Embassies of Europe providing international exposure. Her artwork was exhibited at the American Embassy in Papua New Guinea by the U.S. State Demaprment 1997. Her art career encompasses teaching art at the Walker Art Center
, University of Minnesota at Minneapolis in the Extension Division and General College, Minnetonka Art Center at Minnetonka, Normandale Jr. College at Edina, and the College of St. Catherine at St. Paul.
In 1981, Phyllis Wiener said:
“Cameron Booth taught me about painting. I had many painting instructors, but Cameron Booth knew, and taught me, Abstract Expressionist ideas. It was the way I came into painting.”
In 2005, Molly Priesmeyer said in City Pages:
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. Wiener is one of the first women artist to embrace the Abstract Art
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
Movement in Minnesota.
Life and work
She studied with Grant WoodGrant Wood
Grant DeVolson Wood was an American painter, born four miles east of Anamosa, Iowa. He is best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, particularly the painting American Gothic, an iconic image of the 20th century.- Life and career :His family moved to Cedar Rapids after his...
at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
, 1940; Russel Green at Stephens Columbia College (Missouri), 1944; Cameron Booth at University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
in Minneapolis, 1950- 1953 & 1960-1962: and the Instituto Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, 1961.Her first group exhibition was in Boulder, CO with the Boulder Artist's Guild in 1941. By 1944 her art had reached all regions of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Then from 1954 - 1959 the American Federations of Arts Traveling Exhibition included her artworks. Under the U.S. State Department in 9162 her paintings were in a group exhibition that toured American Embassies of Europe providing international exposure. Her artwork was exhibited at the American Embassy in Papua New Guinea by the U.S. State Demaprment 1997. Her art career encompasses teaching art at the Walker Art Center
Walker Art Center
The Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
, University of Minnesota at Minneapolis in the Extension Division and General College, Minnetonka Art Center at Minnetonka, Normandale Jr. College at Edina, and the College of St. Catherine at St. Paul.
Artistic style
Wiener’s art was created, and then signed with her different last names throughout her life, since American women assumed their husbands last name during this era. This occurrence is common with women artists and if not documented will cause confusion in their lifetime body of work. Her maiden name is Zager with no art created under this name. She created, worked and exhibited under the following last names during these years: Phyllis Downs (1939–1961), Phyllis Ames (1962–1968) and Phyllis Wiener (1971–present). Wiener's work over the years has incorporated many interests, ranging from landscape and figure elements to multicultural textile patterns. Wiener became one of the first woman artists to garner serious attention in the male-dominated art world of the 1950s and 60s.In 1981, Phyllis Wiener said:
“Cameron Booth taught me about painting. I had many painting instructors, but Cameron Booth knew, and taught me, Abstract Expressionist ideas. It was the way I came into painting.”
In 2005, Molly Priesmeyer said in City Pages:
During the '50s, Wiener was one of the few exhibiting woman artists in MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. (Four of the 23 artists in "AbstractAbstract artAbstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
Painting: Selected Works" are female.) "There was a lot of chauvinism," she says. "I remember one time someone said, 'There are few women who ever make it.' And my friend said to him, 'Well! You know, there are few men who ever make it, too!'"
Selected public and corporate collections of Wiener’s work
- 3M Company, St. Paul, MN
- American Association of University WomenAmerican Association of University WomenThe American Association of University Women advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. It was founded in 1882 by Ellen Swallow Richards and Marion Talbot...
- Art Center of Minnetonka Wayzata, MN
- Augsburg CollegeAugsburg CollegeAugsburg College is a selective liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Augsburg was named for the Augsburg Confession, the document of Lutheran belief. The school was founded in 1869 in Marshall, Wisconsin as Augsburg Seminary and moved...
, Minnesota, MN (Padillo Collection) - Briggs and Morgan Law Firm, Minneapolis, MN
- Bucks County Community CollegeBucks County Community CollegeBucks County Community College is a two-year community college located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Founded in 1964, Bucks has three campuses and online courses: a main campus in Newtown, an "Upper County" campus in the town of Perkasie, and a "Lower County" campus in the...
, Newtown, P A - Cardiac Surgical Associates, San Antonio, TX
- Cathedral Church of St. Mark, Minneapolis, MN
- Child Psychiatry Dept University of Minnesota, MN
- Concordia College, St. Paul, MN
- College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN
- College of St. Theresa, Winona, MN
- Curtin and Mahoney Law Firm, Minneapolis, MN
- Dorsey, Windhorst, Hannaford Law Firm, Minneapolis, MN
- Downers Grove Public Library, Downers Grove, IL
- Employers Mutual Insurance of Wausau, WI
- Federal Land Bank, St. Paul, MN
- First National Bank, Lincoln, NE
- First Bank Systems, Minneapolis, MN
- First National Bank of Blue Earth, MI
- First National Bank of Minneapolis, MN (International Division)
- First Southdale Bank, Edina, MN
- Franciscan Hospitals, Rock Island, IL
- Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
- Grand Rapids Art Cente r, Grand Rapids, MI
- Hennepin County Hospitals, Minneapolis, MN
- Hodne, Stageborg, Architects and Planners, Minneapolis, MN
- Hutchinson Technology, Hutchinson, MN
- IDS Properties, Minneapolis, MN
- Interdistrict Downtown SchoolInterDistrict Downtown SchoolInterDistrict Downtown School is an urban magnet school in the center of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a part of the WMEP School District, and teaches grades K-12.Its partner school is the FAIR School....
, Minneapolis, MN - Katz, McAndrews, Durkee & Telleere, Rock Island, IL
- Knutson Companies, Inc, Minneapolis, MN
- Leonard, Street & Deinard Law Firm, Minneapolis, MN
- Lindquist and Vennum Law Firm, Minneapolis, MN
- Lutheran Brotherhood, Minneapolis, MN
- Macalaster College, St. Paul, MN
- Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ
- Medtronic Corporation, Minneapolis, MN
- Minneapolis Institute of ArtsMinneapolis Institute of ArtsThe Minneapolis Institute of Arts is a fine art museum located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on a campus that covers nearly 8 acres , formerly Morrison Park...
, MN - Minneapolis Inter District School, MN
- Minnesota Gas Company, Minneapolis, MN
- Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN
- Minnesota State Historical Society, St. Paul, MN
- Museum of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland
- National Bank of Commerce, Lincoln, NE
- NBC Center, Lincoln, NE
- Normandale CollegeNormandale Community CollegeNormandale Community College is a two-year college located in Bloomington, Minnesota, serving primarily the communities of the southwestern portion of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. Established in 1968 as Normandale State Junior College with an initial enrollment of 1,358 students,...
, Bloomington, MN - North American Life Insurance, Minneapolis, MN
- Northwestern Bank, Rochester, MN
- Pillsbury World Headquarters, Minneapolis, MN
- QWEST (previously Northwestern Bell Telephone Co) Omaha, NE
- Temple Aaron, St. Paul, MN
- Total Petroleum Co, Denver, CO
- Walker Art CenterWalker Art CenterThe Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
, MN - Weisman Art MuseumWeisman Art MuseumThe Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum is an art museum located on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. A teaching museum for the university since 1934, the museum is named for Frederick R. Weisman, and was designed by the renowned architect Frank Gehry...
at University of MinnesotaUniversity of MinnesotaThe University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, MN - Wilson Library, University of MinnesotaUniversity of MinnesotaThe University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, Minneapolis, MN - Wells Fargo Bank, Minneapolis, MN
External links
- PHYLLIS WIENER (DOB 17 September 1921, Iowa City, IA) BIOGRAPHY FOR AMERICAN ARTISTS
- Phyllis Wiener was one of the first female painters in Minnesota’s abstract art movement.
- Phyllis Wiener - Artist, Fine Art, Auction Records, Prices.
- Find works of art, auction results and sale prices of artist Phyllis Wiener.
- Phyllis Wiener American Painter, born in 1921
- Phyllis Wiener. Rhapsody In Blue... and Red and Yellow The Minnesota Museum of American Art paints abstraction in living color.