Natalie Schott
Stern, like her husband Lionel, was an astute observer of life.
In her naive scenes of family life, painted in the 40's, the quirky charm
of her subjects comes forcefully to life, informed by the
sophisticated color space dynamics she learned at the lectures of
Hans Hoffman. The form unexpected and fresh, the color gorgeous, these
works bring to mind Chagall and Stettheimer.
She studied at the Barnes Foundation, Stella Elkins Tyler, Moore Institute, and the Art Student's League. After taking time to raise her children, she continued to paint and exhibit, including a joint show with Lionel at Queens College.
She earned her associate degree with honors at Queens College, there producing a dynamic group of collages. Based on the transformation of perception by 20th Century technology, they showed that "altering man's conception of space [results] in pictures whose imagery--like music--exists outside space and time."
In her 70s, she continued to create and also worked as a museum docent. Full of passion for great art until the end of her life, she gave popular lectures on Ben Shahn and Marc Chagall to senior citizen groups while herself in her 80s.
