Irena Brynner
Irena Brynner | |
---|---|
Born | 1917 |
Died | 2003 New York City, New York, U.S. | (aged 85–86)
Other names | Irene Bryner |
Education | Lausanne Cantonale Art School, California Labor School, California College of the Arts, College of Marin |
Relatives | Yul Brynner (cousin) |
Irena F. Brynner, also known as Irene Bryner (1917 – 2003),[1] was a Russian-born American sculptor, jewelry designer, mezzo-soprano singer, and author.[2]
Early life[]
Irena Brynner was born in 1917 in the city of Vladivostok in Primorsky Krai, Russia.[1][3] She was raised in a Manchuria-based Russian naval base, with her cousin, the actor Yul Brynner.[1] She studied art at the Lausanne Cantonale Art School (École cantonale d'art de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland.[4] She had lived in Dairen (now Dalian) and Peking (now Beijing), China.[5][4] Her father had worked as a Swiss consul in China, and after his death in 1942, the Japanese government denounced him as a spy working for other governments.[4] As a result, she and her mother fled and eventually landed in San Francisco in 1946.[5][4]
Career[]
In San Francisco, she studied with Ralph Stackpole and Michael von Meyer, who exposed Brynner to Modernism and abstract art.[4][5] Brynner attended the California Labor School (CLS), and studied ceramics and drawing.[4] While attending the CLS, she was inspired by the works by Claire Falkenstein.[4]
She apprenticed to study jewelry under Caroline Gleick Rosene (1907–1965) and Franz Walter Bergmann (1898–1977).[5] In January 1950, she took classes with Bob Winston at the California College of the Arts (CCA) where she learned about wax working and she set up a jewelry studio.[4] Her early jewelry work started out very geometric, and changed to more organic forms in later years.[6][5] Brynner co-founded the Metal Arts Guild in San Francisco in 1951, alongside Byron Wilson, Bob Winston, Florence Resnikoff, Caroline Gleick Rosene, Margaret de Patta, Merry Renk, and others.[5] In 1952, Brynner learned about silversmithing, forging and lost-wax casting at the College of Marin.[4]
In 1957, Brynner traveled to New York City for an exhibition and she decided to move shortly after.[4] In New York they did not allow her to use an oxygen fuel for her torch, so her work changed direction and she started working in wax casting.[4] Her career was at its peak between 1958 to 1964 and she held many international exhibitions.[4] In 1963, she received the Gold Medal, Bavarian State Prize from the International Handicrafts Fair in Munich, Germany.[4] Brynner participated in the HemisFair ’68 in the Woman’s Pavilion, alongside Bolivian artist Marina Nuñez del Prado and Argentinian fashion photographer Maria Martel.[2] In 1969, another major change in her work occurred when she started using the Henes Water Welder for electric soldering which was closer to lost-wax casting techniques.[4][7]
In 1999, she was named a fellow by the American Craft Council.[8]
She died in 2003 in New York City, at the age of 86.[4]
Publications[]
- Brynner, Irena (2003). What I Remember. Authorhouse. ISBN 9781403375162.
- Brynner, Irena (1979). Jewelry As An Art Form. Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 978-0442261146.
- Brynner, Irena (1968). Modern Jewelry, Design and Techniques. Reinhold Book Corporation.
References[]
- ^ a b c "Irena Brynner". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
- ^ a b Bennett, Steve (2017-10-14). "S.A. women made their mark with HemisFair '68's Woman's Pavilion". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
- ^ American Craftsmen's Invitational Exhibition: Catalog. Henry Art Gallery. 1968.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Brass, Kaitlyn. Irene Brynner (1917–2003) (PDF). Historical Masters. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 14, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "Oral history interview with Irena Brynner, 2001 April 26-27". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Sculpture That Wears So Well". Newspapers.com. The Gazette. 7 March 1998. p. J1, J2. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Stein, Margery (1989-11-12). "THE ULTIMATE MARKETPLACE; The World of Wearable Art". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
- ^ "College of Fellows". American Craft Council. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
External links[]
- Oral history interview with Irena Brynner, 2001 April 26-27, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
- Metal Arts Guild in San Francisco
- 1917 births
- 2003 deaths
- People from Vladivostok
- American jewelry designers
- Soviet emigrants to the United States
- Soviet expatriates in China
- California College of the Arts alumni
- College of Marin alumni
- Artists from San Francisco