Lena Gurr

Lena Gurr (1897–1992), was an American artist who made paintings, prints, and drawings showing, as one critic said, "the joys and sorrows of everyday life."[2] Another critic noted that her still lifes, city scenes, and depictions of vacation locales were imbued with "quiet humor," while her portrayal of slum-dwellers and the victims of warfare revealed a "ready sympathy" for victims of social injustice at home and of warfare abroad.[3] During the course of her career Gurr's compositions retained emotional content as they evolved from a naturalistic to a semi-abstract cubist style.[4] Discussing this trend, she once told an interviewer that as her work tended toward increasing abstraction she believed it nonetheless "must have some kind of human depth to it." Born into a Russian-Jewish immigrant family, she was the wife of Joseph Biel, also Russian-Jewish and an artist of similar genre and sensibility.[4]

Lena Gurr
At work in her Paris studio, around 1930
Born(1897-10-27)October 27, 1897[1]
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 19, 1992(1992-02-19) (aged 94)[1]
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Known forArtist
Spouse(s)Joseph Biel

Art training

Gurr began studying art at a young age. She was a member of the art club of her high school years[5] and she studied art as a component of the teacher training she subsequently received.[6] In 1919 she studied painting and printmaking at the Educational Alliance Art School[7][8][note 1] and between 1920 and 1922 she won a scholarship to attend the Art Students League where she took classes with John Sloan and Maurice Sterne.[10][7][11][4]

Artistic career
Lena Gurr, "Refreshment Stand," c. 1930, oil on canvas, 30⅛ X 20 in. (76.5 X 50.8 cm.)
Lena Gurr, "Bride to Be," 1940, serigraph, 15 x 19 in. (38.1 x 48.3 cm.)
Lena Gurr, "New York Gothic," 1940, oil on masonite, 48 X 36 in (121.92 X 91.44 cm)

In 1926 and 1928 Gurr participated in group shows at the Whitney Studio Club in Greenwich Village[11][12][note 2] and in 1928 she also participated in the 12th annual exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists at the Waldorf Roof in New York.[15][note 3] From 1929 to 1931 Gurr took a leave of absence from her teaching position to travel in France with Joseph Biel, an artist whom she had met while studying at the Art Students League.[4][17] They spent time in Nice and Mentone but mainly in Paris.[4]

During the early months of 1931, while she was still abroad, her work appeared in group exhibitions held at the R. H. Macy department store[18] and the Opportunity Gallery.[note 4] Gurr's contributions to these shows drew the attention of two critics from the New York Times,[18] one of whom said she appeared to abandon herself to the rich beauty of her medium[21] and the other that her still lifes were excellent.[22] In 1932 she participated in three shows: a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum,[4][23] an annual exhibition of the New York Society of Women Artists,[note 5] and a group exhibition at the G.R.D. Studio. Of the G.R.D. show, Margaret Breuning, critic for the New York Post, said she appeared to be an artist of considerable experience capable of producing a "complex pattern of planes with nonchalant facility."[26][27][note 6]

Her work drew critical attention three years later when, commencing what proved to be a long and productive relationship, she made her first appearance at the A.C.A. Gallery.[30][note 7] Although Howard Devree, critic for the New York Times, praised in general terms the paintings she contributed to this show, he was more explicit in discussing a solo exhibition that the same gallery gave her later in the year. He said some of her work in the solo show tended toward caricature, but most of it was bold and forthright: "She turns out a piquant bit of social satire, an accomplished still-life with warmth of color and with finish, or a romantic landscape."[32]

In 1936 Gurr joined National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors.[10][33] During 1936, 1937, and 1938 she participated in group shows of the Salons of America (1936),[34][note 8] the American Artists School (1936 and 1937),[37][38][39][note 9] and the Municipal Art Gallery (1936 and 1937),[42][43][note 10] Her group shows in 1938 included the annual exhibition held by the New York Society of Women Artists,[45] a benefit show called "Roofs for 40 Million" held at Maison Francaise in the new Rockefeller Center,[46] and another benefit show, put on by the Joint Distribution Committee at Studio Guild Galleries.[47][note 11]

Two critics prepared lengthy reviews of a 1938–39 solo exhibition at the A.C.A. Gallery.[45][48][note 12] Writing in December 1938, the New York Post's Jerome Klein praised Gurr's successful handling of varied subjects (local urban settings, countryside vacations, terror in distant lands)[48] and in January 1939 Howard Devree noted her "capacity for transmuting homely scenes and incidents of every day life into pictures tinged with a kind of romantic realism and with quiet humor."[45][note 13] The page on which Devree's review appeared was illustrated by a painting of Gurr's called On the Bridge which was on view in the show.

In the Spring of 1945 the A.C.A. Gallery gave Gurr her third solo exhibition.[49] Reviewing this show, Melville Upton, critic for the New York Sun, saw a steady advance in her painting, noting a pleasing "structure of repeating and contrasting forms" in one picture and a "complicated and fanciful" design in another.[50] In the New York Times, Howard Devree discussed her talent for depicting her subjects feelingly, using as her themes "human relationships and the joys and sorrows of everyday life."[51] Peggy O'Reilly, of the Brooklyn Eagle, quoted Gurr as saying that while her aims were primarily aesthetic, she tried to be "a creature of what's around me." Regarding a painting called Indestructivle, Gurr said she "tried to show that no matter how much the world is ravaged, love and art still remain."[49] The Brooklyn Eagle's other critic, A.Z. Kruse, also reviewed this solo exhibition. Saying that Gurr "painted with the gusto of a Goya," he praised her "ability to record the emotional impact of an inspired moment" and noted that she held a secure place" in the "front ranks of outstanding American women painters."[2]

During the following decades, Gurr's work continued to be shown at exhibitions of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, the Brooklyn Society of Artists, the New York Society of Women Artists, and the A.C.A. Gallery. She also showed at the World's Fair (1939),[52] the Metropolitan Museum (1942),[53][note 14] the Corcoran Gallery of Art (1944),[54] the Artists League of America (1945),[55][note 15] the National Academy of Design (1946),[58][note 16] the Serigraph Society Galleries (1947),[59][note 17] and the American Federation of Arts (1951).[63][note 18] Commenting on her fourth solo exhibition at the A.C.A. Galleries in 1947, Howard Devree said she had produced some of her best work to date[54] and a critic for the Brooklyn Eagle noted her use of stepped up color, dynamic line, and bolder composition and said she "delights in painting impressions of life as she sees it around her."[65] In 1950 she made murals and mobile decorations in the ballroom of Hotel Astor in preparation for a benefit event sponsored by Artists Equity to raise money for ill and destitute artists[66] and in 1952 she became Artists Equity's recording secretary.[67][note 19]

During her artistic career, Gurr mostly made easel art in oil and casein and also lithographic and silkscreen prints and some watercolors and drawings.[11] Her subjects included still lifes, city scenes, vacation settings, and depictions of war and persecution.[48] Over the years her technique evolved from representative and semi-abstract toward a more abstract semi-cubist style.[4][70][71] Many of her pictures were light-hearted and showed, in the words of one critic, a "quiet humor,"[70][72] while others displayed what another critic called "a ready sympathy" for slum-dwellers and "war-stricken humble folk."[48][70][note 20]

During an interview conducted in 1947 she said "It may be social awareness or his personal reaction to nature, an idea, an emotion or an event,.. [but] something more than mere technique should stand out in [the artist's] finished work."[11] And in another interview, three years later, she said her painting style had grown and changed during her career as she herself had grown and changed, but, though her work tended toward increasing abstraction, she insisted that it "must have some kind of human depth to it."[4] In 1959, Stuart Preston, writing in the New York Times, noted that her use of small, flat planes did not prevent her work from displaying liveliness and "an affectionate interest."[73]

Gurr's semi-abstract and semi-cubist works revealed a talent for creative design.[50] Over the course of her career they increasingly showed a lighter tone[54] and what one critic referred to as "stepped up color, dynamic line, bolder composition."[65] In 1950 one critic praised her ability to handle abstraction "in the best modern vein"[74] and a few years later another said she used a style that employed flat planes in a deliberate distortion of reality but her figures and city scenes were nonetheless realistic in nature.[71]

In the 1950s and 1960s she continued to participate in group shows of The National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors (which had renamed itself the National Association of Women Artists in 1941), the Brooklyn Society of Artists, and the A.C.A. Gallery. Thereafter she showed less frequently and the last exhibition to receive public notice during her lifetime seems to have taken place in 1977.[75]

Solo exhibitions

Gurr was given her first solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in 1932.[11][23] The A.C.A. Gallery gave her solo exhibitions in 1935,[76] 1938,[48][70][3] 1945,[50] and 1947.[54][65] In 1949 her work appeared in what was billed as a "Joint One-Man Serigraph Show" at the Serigraph Galleries in New York.[77] She subsequently received three more A.C.A. solo shows: in 1950,[4][74] 1953,[71] and 1959[73]

Group exhibitions

Gurr showed regularly in exhibitions of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors,[53][78][79][80][81][82] the New York Society of Women Artists,[26][45] and the Brooklyn Society of Artists.[83][84][85][86][87][88] Her principal private gallery was the A.C.A. Gallery.[30] Her work appeared under the auspices of the Whitney Studio Club (1926, 1928),[11][12] and the Municipal Art Committee (1936, 1937).[42][43] as well as the Society of Independent Artists (1928),[15] the Artists League of America (1945),[55] the National Academy (1946),[58] and the Corcoran Gallery (1947).[54]

Awards

During her professional career Gurr received awards from the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors (1937,[78] 1947,[79] 1950,[80][81] 1954,[82] and 1961[89]), the Brooklyn Society of Artists (1943,[83] 1950,[81] 1951,[85] 1954,[86][87] and 1955[88]), the National Serigraph Association (1950),[4] and the Silvermine Guild of Artists (1957).[90]

Memberships

Gurr was a member of the American Artists Congress,[10] Artists Equity Association,[67] Artists League of America,[91] Artists Union,[42] Audubon Artists,[10] Brooklyn Society of Artists,[81] National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors,[33] and New York Society of Women Artists.[11][91]

Art teacher

After leaving high school in 1915 Gurr enrolled in the Brooklyn Training School for Teachers. She took the one-year program and returned for a third semester, following which, in January 1917, she received a certificate to teach drawing.[6][7][note 21] She began her teaching career in 1918 at a New York elementary school and in 1921 was promoted to teach drawing at the junior high level.[94][95] She remained a junior high art teacher in city schools until her retirement in 1944.[96][97][98][note 22]

In the summer of 1945, Gurr taught in the city's parks in a program sponsored by the Civilian Defense Volunteer Office.[101][note 23] Her sessions at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden proved to be a popular part of the program prompting a reporter from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle to attend one class. "The picture is a creation from your own hand," Gurr told her students, "In your picture you are at liberty to do what you like." She also said that variety in subject matter, center of interest, balance, movement, and design are all elements that are either instinctively known or must be learned. To one student she said, "You'll have to unbalance yourself a bit and then your pictures will be more interesting."[101]

Personal information

Gurr was born in Brooklyn and, apart from brief stays in Manhattan and in Paris, lived there her whole life.[1][4][104][105] Her father was Hyman Gurr and her mother was Ida Gorodnick Gurr. She had two older brothers, Abraham and Samuel, and four younger sisters, Fannie, Jennie, Celia, and Martha.[10][7][104][note 24] Both parents had immigrated to New York from Russia, Hyman in 1891[note 25] and Ida in 1893.[104] Hyman and Ida were married in the United States.[104][106][note 26] In 1910 Lena, Jennie, Fannie, and Celia were in school and Samuel was in school but also earning money in the tin toy trade. Abraham was living with the rest of the family, earning money as a fitter of gas fixtures. Hyman was employed in the dressmaking trade.[note 27] In 1910 the family lived in a rented apartment at 55 Seigel Street in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.[104][note 28]

Gurr attended Eastern District High School, where she participated in the art club,[5] spoke in school assemblies, worked on the literary monthly, and was elected vice-president of the senior class.[5][107][108][note 29] After graduating in 1915,[110] she studied at the Brooklyn Training School for Teachers and, having attended for an extra semester in the fall of 1917, earned her certificate as a drawing teacher.[6][note 30] In May of that year she obtained her teaching certificate.[96]

Gurr met her future husband, Joseph Biel, while they were both students at the Art Students League.[4] She accompanied him to France from 1929 through 1931 and they married on November 24, 1931.[7][17] Her father died in 1934[note 31] and her husband died in 1943 at the age of 52.[7][note 32] After marrying, Gurr and Biel had bought a house in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn and after his death Gurr opted to spend the rest of her life there. "We had planned the home for so long." she told a reporter, "I was determined to stay on there."[4] She did not remarry. They had no children.[11] She died in Brooklyn on February 19, 1992.[1] She was well organised and said in interview that an artist's studio should be as tidy as an office.[4] Her papers are now in the Archives of American Art.[7]

Other names

Gurr used Lena Gurr as her professional name. After marrying she was sometimes referred to as Lena Gurr Biel.[115]

Notes
  1. The Educational Alliance is a charitable organization which offers social service programs to poor residents of New York City. It was founded on the lower east side of Manhattan in 1889 as a settlement house for East European Jews. In 1895 Henry McBride, who would later become well known as an art critic for the New York Sun, informally began a program of art classes there. Originally having only two pupils who met twice a week in the evening, the classes evolved into an independent art school in 1917 and by the time Gurr attended it offered both day and evening classes to large numbers of students.[8][9]
  2. The Whitney Studio Club was a project of the collector, sculptor, and philanthropist, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. With the goal of supporting them, she both purchased and publicly displayed the work of living American artists. Beginning in 1907, she used her own studio as a public gallery and in 1918 opened the Whitney Studio Club gallery on West 4th Street in Greenwich Village. In 1931 she and her husband expanded the gallery into the Whitney Museum of American Art.[13][14]
  3. The Society of Independent Artists frequently held exhibitions at the Waldorf Room. Reviewing this show, Helen Appleton Read, the critic for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, said "I made three discoveries on my first visit...they are Thomas Nagal "Tea", Eugenie McEvoy "Lenox 2300" and Lena Gurr with two figure compositions which have something of Marie Laurencin's or Helene Perdriat's quality of naive sophistication."[15] The Waldorf Roof was a set of rooms on the top floor of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, one of which had glass sides and a glass roof. The rooms were used for concerts, dances, benefits, and exhibitions.[16]
  4. In 1931, the Macy department store, which had held art exhibits during the 1920s, opened new galleries for displaying the work of young American artists, such as Gurr, who had previously exhibited little or nothing.[19] A group of collectors along with the artist Gifford Beal set up the nonprofit Opportunity Gallery in the fall of 1927. Like Macy's Gallery, provided new artists with a place to show their work.[20]
  5. The New York Society of Women Artists was founded in 1926 as an alternative to the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors (which was believed to be too traditional and academic). It aimed to show art that was both innovative and not overly feminine. Its first president was Marguerite Zorach.[24] Founding members included Agnes Weinrich, Anne Goldthwaite, Blanche Lazzell, Henrietta Shore, Louise Upton Brumback, Margaret Wendell Huntington, Marjorie Organ, and Sonia Gordon Brown.[25]
  6. Like the Opportunity Gallery, the G.R.D. Studio was the non-commercial venture sponsored by patrons charging no commissions to the young artists whose work it showed. It was founded in 1928 as a memorial to Gladys Roosevelt Dick by her sister, Mrs. Philip J. Roosevelt.[28][29]
  7. The A.C.A. Gallery was founded in 1932 by Herman Baron and the artists, Stuart Davis, Adolf Dehn, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi. Oriented toward American contemporary art, it had a distinctive left-wing point of view and its exhibitions tended to display works of social conscience. In the early 1940s, it was the first gallery to show silkscreen prints using the technique developed by Harry Gottlieb[31]
  8. Salons of America was an organization founded in 1922 by Hamilton Easter Field in opposition to the Society of Independent Artists. Field was president. Members included Oscar Bluemner, George Luks, Rockwell Kent, and Stefan Hirsch.[35][36]
  9. Gurr participated in the American Artists School exhibition as an art instructor belonging to Local 5 of the city's Teachers Union. The show contained works by Gurr and five other members of the Artist Union. Of her paintings, a New York Times critic said "Lena Gurr's urban observations have point and fluency."[38] The American Artists School had a radical orientation similar to that of the A.C.A. Gallery. Begun in 1936 as successor to the John Reed Club School of Art, its director was Harry Gottlieb. The secretary was Henry Billings. Arnold Blanch, Lincoln Rothschild, Waylande Gregory, Louis Lozowick, John Cunningham, Alexander Brook, George Picke, H. Glintenkamp, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Niles Spencer, and Philip Reisman were members of the board. It aimed to educate young workers as to social issues as well as give them rudimentary art training needed to qualify for federal arts programs. It lasted only a few years during which it held a few exhibitions such as the one in which Gurr participated.[40][41]
  10. The Municipal Art Gallery was a public works project established in January 1936 by the Mayor's Municipal Art Committee of New York City. Its director was Mary Breckinridge, the wife of Henry Breckinridge. In the late 1930s the gallery held frequent exhibitions of contemporary American artists.[44]
  11. The Joint Distribution Committee's show raised funds to help Jews who were "victims of the political situation in various parts of Europe."[47]
  12. Writing in the New York Times Howard Devree called one of her paintings the best he had seen to date[45] and Jerome Klein of the New York Post wrote that her paintings made a stronger showing than the ones he had seen before.[48]
  13. Klein also said she possessed a "fine sense of the episodic" which did not interfere with "the capacity to build a firm, substantial picture."[48] Devree wrote, "She also sees and portrays the tragedy of the slums or the war-stricken humble folk and a ready sympathy lies behind her work. She can suggest by a small group and their nondescript possessions the whole of a Summer beach without crowding it with writhing figures. Miss Gurr's work is sound and well considered, with a folksy quality that is delightful."[45]
  14. In December 1942 Gurr was one of six school art teachers invited to show work in an exhibition of contemporary American art at the Metropolitan Museum.[53]
  15. The Artists League of America exhibition was held at the Riverside Museum. Shortly after the United States entered World War II, a mass meeting in New York of 23 artists' societies (the "Artists' Societies for National Defense") called for establishment of a group called the Artists' Council for Victory. The council was formed on January 19, 1942, and its executive board subsequently recommended that the Artists Union and the American Artists' Congress be merged to form the Artists League of America. In May of that year the Artists League came into existence.[56][57]
  16. The exhibition at the National Academy contained drawings by contemporary American artists. A.Z. Kruse, writing in the Brooklyn Eagle, said that one of Gurr's drawings, On the Home Front, showing a soldier kissing his child that had been born while he was in service, was "understandingly and skilfully rendered with white chalk on black paper..."[58]
  17. The Serigraph Society show consisted of silkscreen prints. In 1940 Harry Gottlieb showed silkscreen prints at the A.C.A. Gallery and Gurr undoubtedly saw them there. Serigraphy was then a new artistic medium. Anthony Velonis, working with the Public Use of Arts Committee and the United American Artists, is credited with the formation of the Silk Screen Group which later became the National Serigraph Society. In 1945 the National Serigraph Society had moved into new headquarters with permanent gallery space at 38 West 57th Street in New York.[60][61][62]
  18. In January 1951 Gurr participated in a traveling exhibition called "The Art of Democratic Living" co-sponsored by the American Federation of Arts and the committee on the art of democratic living of the New York Chapter of the American Jewish Committee. The show opened in New York at Freedom House. Its theme was "the need for democratic living among Americans of different creeds, colors and ethnic or national origins."[64]
  19. An article in the Brooklyn Eagle describing preparations for the costume ball included a photo of Gurr.[68] Formed in 1947, the Artists Equity Association aimed to promote the welfare of American artists and protect their economic interests. Its president was Yasuo Kuniyoshi and its membership included American painters, sculptors, and graphic artists including Will Barnet, Thomas Hart Benton, Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Louise Nevelson, and John Sloan.[66][69]
  20. In 1939 Howard Devree wrote that she saw and portrayed the "tragedy of the slums or the war-stricken humble folk" with a ready sympathy.[70]
  21. Although sources say Gurr studied at the Maxwell Training School for Teachers,[10][7][91] the name of the school was the Brooklyn Training School for Teachers during the time she attended.[92][93]
  22. Her first teaching position was in P.S. 95. This was almost certainly the school at Van Sicklen St. and Neck Road in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn, a school which had been newly built in 1915.[97][99] Although she generally taught in junior high schools, in 1931 she was listed as received an extension to the sabbatical leave she had been granted from an elementary school in Manhattan.[100]
  23. During World War II, the Civilian Defense Volunteer Office of the Office of Civilian Defense encouraged New Yorkers not to travel outside the city during their summer vacations. The "at home vacations" campaign focused on sightseeing, birdwatching, museum-going, and other activities as well as sponsoring art instruction sessions in city parks, such as the ones in which Gurr participated.[102][103]
  24. When the 1910 U.S. Census was taken, Abraham was 16, Samuel 14, Lena 12, Fannie 10, Jennie 8, Celia, 6, and Martha 3.
  25. His parents were Joseph Gurr and Anna Silver Gurr, both Russians. In 1910 he was not yet a naturalized citizen (listed as alien) and could read and write in Yiddish, but had not learned to speak English.[104][106]
  26. In 1910 they had been married 23 years.[104]
  27. He and his sons were all wage earners meaning, presumably, that they were employed outside the home.[104]
  28. Their neighbors were almost all Russian immigrants who, like themselves, spoke Yiddish.[104]
  29. The literary monthly, called The Daisy, contained short stories, poems, cartoons, and news reports of school activities.[109]
  30. The Brooklyn Training School for Teachers was a public school established by the Brooklyn Board of Education in 1885. A few years later, after Brooklyn became part of New York City, the school was taken over by the city's new Board of Education. In 1907 it moved into a new building at Park Place near Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn and Emma L. Johnson was its principal. During the time Gurr attended, it had a one-year training program to prepare students for the examination to become licensed elementary school teachers. Shortly after she graduated, the school was renamed the Maxwell Training School for Teachers after William H. Maxwell, who, as a superintendent of schools, helped create the school.[92][93][111][112]
  31. He was then widowed, living in the East New York section of Brooklyn, and working as a presser.[106]
  32. He had been born in Grodno, Poland (later absorbed into Russia) and had lived in England, France, and Australia before coming to New York. An artist, he specialized in landscape paintings and silkscreen printing as well as photography. He studied art at the Russian Academy in Paris. After immigrating to the United States, he studied under George Grosz at the Arts Students League. Of Biel she said, "His premature death halted a talent that might have reached great heights."[7][113][114]
gollark: Thë.
gollark: Should we just hire *everyone*? Do they need specific roles?
gollark: From IKEA, or what?
gollark: What does it ””””””contain”””””””?
gollark: What does the ”””cabinet””” do?

References
  1. "Lena Gurr, 19 Feb 1992". "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing). Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  2. A.Z. Kruse (1945-04-22). "At The Art Galleries". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. p. 28. Because of her prodigious ability and indefatigable effort, Lena Gurr's place in the front ranks of outstanding American women painters is secure. She paints with a powerful sense of subjective realism and reveals an unusual ability to record the emotional impact of an inspired moment. A gala event which fires the imagination at Coney Island has been magnificently poetized in paint in Miss Gurr's "Child's Wonderland." "City Vignette" is a rare achievement in pictorial composition. Last and perhaps most important in her repertoire of 25 paintings is "Little Old New York," its locale at the recent World's Fair, and painted with the gusto of a Goya.
  3. "Events Here and There". New York Times. 1939-01-01. p. 104.
  4. "Artist Lena Gurr Says Studio Should Be Neat Like Office". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1950-12-06. p. 17.
  5. "Eastern District Notes". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1912-09-05. p. 3.
  6. "Future of New York Lies In Teachers; Commencement Exercises, Brooklyn Training School for Teachers". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1917-06-27. p. 8.
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  15. "Waldorf Roof Garden to be Opened". New York Times. 1917-06-03. p. 23.
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  18. Edward Alden Jewell (1931-09-05). "Art: Young Artists Show of Macy's". New York Times. p. 7.
  19. Roxana Robinson (1989). "Georgia O'Keeffe: A Life". Upne. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
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  21. Edward Alden Jewell (1931-04-28). "Art: More Mexican Canvases. A Retrospective Art Show". New York Times. p. 31.
  22. Edward Alden Jewell (1932-06-16). "Brooklyn Museum Will Open Four Exhibitions Today That Will Remain on View All Summer". New York Times. p. 19.
  23. Helen Appleton Read (1926-04-25). "Women's Art Not Necessarily Feminine, New Group Demonstrates; New York Society of Women Artists at Anderson Galleries Proves That Women Have Personalities in Art as Well As in Life". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. p. E5.
  24. "Society of Women Artists". New York Evening Post. 1926-03-13. p. 9.
  25. Margaret Breuning (1932-01-16). "Other Art Events". New York Post. p. B8. Lena Gurr appears to be a painter of considerable experience, for her "Trimming the Tree" manipulates a complex pattern of planes with nonchalant facility while her palette indicates an appreciation of color modulations.
  26. "Women Artists in Annual Show". New York Post. 1932-01-16. Also to be mentioned among the paintings are Lena Gurr's vivid winter scene...
  27. Edward Alden Jewell (1932-10-25). "New Gallery Opened by the G.R.D. Studio Has Large Group Exhibition Representing Its First Four Years". New York Times. p. 22.
  28. "The G.R.D. in New Quarters". New York Times. 1932-10-29.
  29. Howard Devree (1935-02-03). "In The Art Galleries: A Reviewer's Busy Week". New York Times. p. X8. Lena Gurr's well-lighted snow scene and a portrait by Mary Hutchinson, in which her resources have be... may be singled out from the group show.
  30. "ACA Galleries Celebrates 80 Years of Advocacy for American Art". ACA Galleries est. 1932, New York. Archived from the original on 2018-04-03. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  31. Howard Devree (1935-10-06). "Early Fall Shows in the Galleries". New York Times. p. 163.
  32. "New Members". New York Times. 1936-11-13. p. 21.
  33. "Art Comment; 3 Group Shows of American Art Provide Variety". New York Post. 1936-05-09. ...Lena Gurr's "Queensboro Bridge," marking a considerable advance over her work at the A.C.A. last fall...
  34. Richard H. Love; Carl William Peters (1 January 1999). Carl W. Peters: American Scene Painter from Rochester to Rockport. University Rochester Press. p. 389. ISBN 978-1-58046-024-8.
  35. "Salons of America, Inc., Next; Offshoot of Independents Prepares for Spring Exhibition—Salmagundi Prizes". New York Sun. 1924-03-14. p. 9.
  36. "American Art School Show". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1936-06-11. p. 10.
  37. Howard Devree (1936-06-21). "With a Distinctly American Flavor". New York Times. p. X7. Lena Gurr's urban observations have point and fluency (she is also showing canvases at the Municipal Art Gallery at present).
  38. "The Critic Takes a Glance Around the Galleries". New York Post. 1937-10-30. p. 16. Under sponsorship of the Teachers Union, Local 5, art instructors are exhibiting at the American Artist School. Among the many interest spots in this show of about fifty works are... Lena Gurr's well-handled "Refreshments Under the El"...
  39. "Art Brevities". New York Times. 1936-01-30. p. 17. A new art school, to be known as the American Artists School, has been organized and will be conducted in the quarters formerly occupied by the John Reed Club School of Art at 131 West Fourteenth Street. Henry Billings is secretary of the board of control, which includes Arnold Blanch, Lincoln Rothschild, Waylande Gregory, Louis Lozowick, John Cunningham, Alexander Brook, George Picke, H. Glintenkamp, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Niles Spencer and Philip Reisman.
  40. Virginia Hagelstein Marquardt (1986). "The American Artists School: Radical Heritage and Social Content Art". Archives of American Art Journal. University of Chicago Press. 26 (4): 17–23.
  41. "The Critic Takes a Glance Around the Galleries". New York Post. 1936-06-13. Of special note in the first floor group are Lena Gurr's fresh and attractive winter scene...
  42. Jerome Klein (1937-01-27). "Art Comment; Climb One Flight at the Municipal; Best of Its Four New Group Shows Is Upstairs". New York Post. p. 24. ... includes Lena Gurr's breezy, clean-cut canvas of a last minute rush for an excursion boat...
  43. "Forty Exhibitions Rouse Art World; Municipal Art Gallery Show Opening Tomorrow Has Work of 46 Artists". New York Times. 1936-01-06. p. 15. The new venture is the opening tomorrow of the Municipal Art Gallery, under the direction of the Mayor's Municipal Art Committee, at 62 West Fifty-third Street.
  44. Howard Devree (1938-02-01). "Display Is Opened By Women Artists: More Than 100 Examples of a Variety of Work Are Seen at Grant Studios; Modern Note Is Dominant". New York Times. p. 19. Lena Gurr's "Triboro Bridge" seems to me one of her best pictures to date and her "American Family" captures an almost indefinable Negro spirit.
  45. Jerome Klein (1938-04-16). ""Roofs for 40 Million" show at Maison Francaise Rockefeller Center". New York Post. p. 12.
  46. "Artists Aid Relief Work". New York Times. 1938-05-01. p. 157. Lena Gurr's "Triboro Bridge" seems to me one of her best pictures to date and her "American Family" captures an almost indefinable Negro spirit.
  47. Jerome Klein (1938-12-31). "1939 Greetings to WPA Artists to be Pink Slips; Lena Gurr Clicks". New York Post. p. 12. Lena Gurr's genre of the city, of vacation time in the country and terror in distant lands, on view at the A.C.A. Gallery, make a stronger showing than have her previous exhibits. In her case a fine sense of the episodic has not interfered with the capacity to build a firm, substantial picture. On the contrary, the two have grown together. Thus we can point to the 'Old Man' as a splendid glimpse of life on the street and an outstanding example of solid figure construction. The brush runs more fluently in the conversation between 'Neighbors,' which seems as natural as a casual glance but is probably the most carefully pondered composition in the lot. Of the three excellent winter scenes, 'Heavy Snowfall' is most vigorous and best in harmony. While the scenes of war and persecution are clearly done with the full strength of conviction, they are not as successful as the local genre. 'Spanish Mothers' is the outstanding canvas in this group.
  48. Peggy O'Reilly (1945-04-23). "Lena Gurr's Paintings of War, Still Life Contrast at Exhibit". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. p. 9. Lena Gurr's individuality as an artists speaks for itself in her current invasion of Manhattan's swank 57th St. to exhibit for the third time at the ACA Gallery. This showing of 25 recent paintings continues through sat. While painting to the Brooklyn artist, a former teacher of art for 26 years in the city's junior high schools, is "primarily aesthetic," she believes that the incorporation of ideas stirs interest in the beholder. She tries to be "a creature of what's around me," and that means painting what she "sees, thinks, and feels." Miss Gurr is modern in her style and tries to "express the times."
  49. Melville Upton (1945-04-21). "Attractions in the Galleries". Sun. New York, N.Y. p. 9. This young artist seems to have advanced steadily since her last remembered exhibition. She paints strongly, has rich color at command on occasion, and while generally handling things realistically shows a tendency to go more into creative design in such canvases as "Indestructible" and "Fish Forms." In the latter canvas, starting with the plebeian carp she has reared a structure repeating and contrasting forms that make a telling, decorative ensemble. The other canvas mentioned is more complicated and fanciful in design with a dash of something very like wishful thinking. Elsewhere she keeps pretty close to the actual in such canvases that made the greatest appeal as "Winter Chores," "Up the Hill," "Clearing the Snow," "Reverie," "Summer Afternoon" and "the Last of My Garden Flowers."
  50. Howard Devree (1945-04-22). "Among The New Exhibitions". New York Times. p. X1. In her recent paintings at the A.C.A. Gallery, Lena Gurr proves that she has made a distinct advance since her last previous show, several years ago. Never sensational, the artist works quietly and soundly, with human relationships and the joys and sorrows of everyday life as her themes. A crisp winter day; the bond between playmates of different races; a ferris wheel as a child visions it; the nightmare of fascism—these she depicts feelingly. Color and design are subdued to her purpose. This is earnest and moving work.
  51. Jerome Klein (1939-05-05). "Art of America Today on Display at World's Fair". New York Post. p. 3.
  52. Howard Devree (1940-10-27). "A Reviewer's Notebook: Brief Comment on Some Recently Opened Shows—Old Masters and Contemporaries". New York Times. p. 138.
  53. Howard Devree (1947-12-07). "On View". New York Times. p. 96. Lena Gurr at the A.C.A. Gallery has enriched her palette, shaken off a previously consistent somber mood and come up with some of her best work. The rapt "Harpist," the "Simcha's Torah," which seems an illustration from the Arabian Nights in its glowing arabesques of color; the nostalgic "Summer and I" and the "Cocktail Hour," with its rich impasto effects, are all new high marks in her work. The exception is the grim "Displaced Person," low in key, with its agonized relentless rhythms.
  54. "Artists League of America at the Riverside Museum". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1945-05-06. p. 28.
  55. Gerald M. Monroe (1972). "The Artists Union of New York". Art Journal. College Art Association. 32 (1): 17–23. JSTOR 775601.
  56. "Congress of American Artists, 1941". Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  57. A.Z. Kruse (1946-01-06). "At The Art Galleries". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. p. 29. On the home front, a babe receives its "First Kiss" from its father home on furlough. This scene represents the present and future of America, and it understandingly and skillfully rendered with white chalk on black paper by Lena Gurr.
  58. Howard Devree (1947-05-25). "A Review of Portraits And Other Events". New York Times. p. X10.
  59. "In the Field of Prints". New York Times. 1940-03-24. p. 115.
  60. "Here, There, Elsewhere". New York Times. 1941-02-02. p. X10.
  61. "Serigraph Society in New Quarters". New York Sun. 1945-11-03. p. 9.
  62. "20 Art Prizes Awarded". New York Times. 1951-01-17. p. 40.
  63. ""Democratic Living" Art: Exhibit Will Open Tomorrow". New York Times. 1951-01-15. p. 28.
  64. "Fourth Solo Art Exhibit Reveals Miss Gurr In a New Mood". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1947-12-11. p. 5.
  65. "Artists Form Equity Association To Safeguard Economic Interest". New York Times. 1947-03-26. p. 27.
  66. "Artists Equity Elects". New York Times. 1952-05-21. p. 16.
  67. Margaret Mara (1950-05-18). "Boro Artists Lend Talents to Benefit". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. p. 17.
  68. "History — New York Artists Equity Association". New York Artists Equity Association, Inc. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
  69. Howard Devree (1939-01-01). "A Reviewer's Notebook: Final Week of the Year Brings Forward Papers by Many Water-Colorists". New York Times. p. 104. Cleaner and brighter color than heretofore and good stanch design characterize the paintings by Lena Gurr, currently on view at the A.C.A. Gallery. Miss Gurr has a capacity for transmuting homely scenes and incidents of every day life into pictures tinged with a kind of romantic realism and with quiet humor. She also sees and portrays the tragedy of the slums or the war-stricken humble folk and a ready sympathy lies behind her work. She can suggest by a small group and their nondescript possessions the whole of a Summer beach without crowding it with writhing figures. Miss Gurr's work is sound and well considered, with a folksy quality that is delightful.
  70. Stuart Preston (1953-10-25). "Diversity in Shows: Homer's Early Paintings – Five Contemporaries". New York Times. p. X1. Lena Gurr's paintings of figures and of the city at the ACA Gallery are only less realistic because she looks at the visible world through the deliberate distortion of semi-cubist style. Land, water and even sky break into a system of flat planes that are really independent of what she represents. She is a bold and excellent colorist and her impressive views of New York's waterfront hold their own with the best.
  71. "Show in Brooklyn of Humor in Art". New York Times. 1935-11-22. p. 21.
  72. Stuart Preston (1959-01-31). "Lena Gurr's Cityscapes on Exhibition". New York Times. p. 10. General liveliness and an affectionate interest in subject matter are the most conspicuous merits of Lena Gurr's cityscapes and Cape Cod scenes at the ACA Gallery. She more or less abstracts what she sees into small, flat planes, which have a nodding acquaintance with cubism. These pictures are decorative and color is sprightly, but they lack in all but the most superficial way the sense of place. They would make ideal jig-saw puzzles.
  73. "New Art Displays Open For Holidays: Gurr, Sway and Nelson Exhibit Paintings in Local Galleries". New York Times. 1950-12-16. p. 2. Lena Gurr's new paintings at the A.C.A. Gallery are a battleground between representation and stylization. Her subjects, figures, landscapes and still-life are only moderately interesting in themselves, because the artist does not seem to feel strongly about them. What does interest is the formal straight-jacket of flat pattern in which they are encased. These are well thought out and in the best modern vein.
  74. "Classified Ad: Women in American Art, Summit Gallery, New York". New York Times. 1977-11-18. p. 76.
  75. "Many New Offerings at Galleries". New York Post. 1935-09-28.
  76. Howard Devree (1949-01-30). "Display Ad: Joint One-Man Serigraph Show by Lena Gurr, Harry Shoulberg, Serigraph Galleries, NY". New York Times. p. X9.
  77. "Women Painters Tend to Describe; Colorful Style Predominates in Annual Show of National Association". New York Post. 1937-01-30. p. 12.
  78. Howard Devree (1947-02-23). "Recent Paintings by Vytlacil, Barnett, Wilson, Hondius and Others". New York Times. p. X7.
  79. Howard Devree (1950-05-31). "Annual Show By Women Arrives". New York Times. p. 40.
  80. Margaret Mara (1950-06-05). "Palette and Brush". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y.
  81. Stuart Preston (1954-05-13). "Association of Women Artists Opens Show At the National Academy of Design". New York Times. p. 37.
  82. "Brooklyn Society of Artists at Brooklyn Museum". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1943-01-21. p. 9.
  83. "At The Art Galleries; Brooklyn Society of Artists Shows 28th Annual at Brooklyn Museum". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1944-04-09. p. 22. It takes a thoroughly sympathetic understanding to penetrate the depths of a fraternal tenement spirit between two front stoop neighbors. Lena Gurr has out-Gurred herself in this particular theme.
  84. "Boro Artists' Exhibit to be Open to Public". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1951-01-21. p. 10.
  85. "Borough Art Winners". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1951-11-01. p. 6.
  86. "14 Brooklyn Artists Win Honors at Show". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1951-11-06. p. 25.
  87. "Brooklyn Society Opens Annual Show". New York Times. 1955-04-19. p. 40.
  88. Brian O'Doherty (1961-05-17). "Art: A Man Into Space: Human Figure Changed in Paintings by Stefan Martin and Fiorenzo Giorgi". New York Times. p. 33.
  89. "Ross, Jacobson Win Silvermine Awards". Wilton Bulletin. Wilton, Conn. 1957-06-12. p. 13A. An award of $50 sponsored by Angelique Perfumes of Wilton Center for an oil painting of the waterfront was won by Lena Gurr of Brooklyn N.Y. for "Pinnacles from a Pier."
  90. "Favor Renaming of Teachers School for W.H. Maxwell". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1920-05-28. p. 18.
  91. "Brooklyn Pioneer in Many School Reforms". Brooklyn Standard Union. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1921-11-06. p. 5.
  92. "Promotion Licenses Granted". School. New York: The School News Company. 32 (39): 665. 1921-05-26.
  93. "New York Teachers Have Greatest Opportunities". School. New York: The School News Company. 33 (25): 419. 1922-02-16.
  94. "Many New Teachers of Eligible List". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1917-05-24. p. 7.
  95. "The Teaching Staff: Transfers and Appointmentsin the Various Public Schools". New York Times. 1918-01-24. p. 10.
  96. "Art Fans, 13 Months to 66 Years, Flock to C.D.V.O. School in Park". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1944-07-29. p. 2. "You must keep on and on to the bitter end. Persevere! Something will come out of it, something better than you ever dreamed of!" Miss Gurr who taught art in the city's junior high schools for 26 years before her retirement last Spring... "At Home on Vacation" program Miss Gurr has exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery, the Pennsylvania Academy, and the World's Fair, as well as in New York shows. The Library of Congress has just purchased one of her lithographs.
  97. New York (N.Y.). Board of Education. Superintendent of Schools (1916). Annual Report. p. 19.
  98. "The Teaching Staff". New York Times. 1931-04-28. p. 54.
  99. Peggy O'Reilly (1945-08-15). "Botanic Garden Artists Thrive in Sunny Class". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. p. 15.
  100. "CDVO Gives Advice on Vacations in City". New York Times. 1945-06-19. p. 16.
  101. "Brazilian Artist Shows Work Here". New York Times. 1945-06-29. p. 13.
  102. "Lena Gurr in household of Hyman Gurr, Brooklyn Ward 16, Kings, New York, United States". "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 345, sheet 4A, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,374,978. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  103. "Lena Biel in household of Joseph Biel, Assembly District 18, Brooklyn, New York City, Kings, New York, United States". "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch; citing enumeration district (ED) 24-2135A, sheet 8B, family 169, NARA digital publication T627 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), roll 2602. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  104. "Hyman Gurr, 11 Jul 1934". "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795–1949," database, FamilySearch; citing Death, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 2,079,075. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  105. "Services at Eastern". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1913-09-23. p. 4.
  106. "Many Officers Elected; Eastern District High School". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1914-10-16. p. 10.
  107. "Eastern District High School – Eastern Senior Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY), Class of 1950". p. 81. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
  108. "Honor Graduates at Eastern District". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. Newspapers.com. 1915-01-25. p. 5. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  109. College and Private School Directory of the United States and Canada. Educational Bureau Publishing Company. 1915. p. 136.
  110. "Building of the Day: 760 Prospect Place". Brownstoner. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  111. Steven A. Wasser. "Joseph Biel (1891–1943): East 10th Street Pier". A CELEBRATION OF FREEDOM: American Jewish Art, 1925–1950. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
  112. Helen Appleton Read (1943-04-25). "Joseph Biel, Noted Artist And World Traveler, Dies". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, N.Y. p. 19.
  113. "Art Teachers Show Work in Exhibition". New York Sun. 1942-12-10. p. 37.
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