My Hyperrealist Life and Legacy

By Carole Feuerman

This book dives deep into my experiences as a woman artist. It highlights my struggles to survive the odds through balance, perseverance, and independence on my journey to fulfilling my true calling. Art has always been my saving grace.

Whether it be finding new work, financial uncertainty, or contemplating failure, fear has a special place in our emotional life. By compulsion, our minds are designed to let fear in. Without it, we’d never survive. But how to keep suspicion away from restricting our ability to fulfill our goals? Carole describes it all in this effort.

Conquering fear is about wisdom, self-awareness, and understanding our inner strengths – often in the face of overwhelming odds in life. We can also practice and cultivate these winning personality traits, and thankfully, everything gets easier over time. This Feuerman’s book intends to educate the readers about surviving all the odds in life. The Her thought-provoking stories can stimulate the readers to overcome all their fears and live a satisfying life.

The changes and transitions that take place within an artist’s life are worth documenting. The autobiography has become synonymous with the study of an artist’s life along with his or her oeuvre. Book publishers use the term “artist's life” to indicate books dealing with a single artist. Art Historians are asked to write essays about the artists and their works to be published inside the book. The publication also may have a strong effect on the value of an artist’s work. It leaves a legacy, a lasting account of their story and their life’s work. Future generations will be able to read about them and see photos of their works. It will remain in libraries, universities, and museums as a reference tool. If nothing else, the monograph outlives the artist, and their works transcend the limitations of time and space.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carole Feuerman
• Release date: Dec 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9781801285087

Carole Feuerman

Carole A. Feuerman (born 1945) is an American sculptor and author working in Hyperrealism. She is one of the three artists credited with starting the movement in the late 1970s. She is best known for her iconic figurative works of swimmers and dancers. She is the only artist to make life-like outdoor sculptures and the only woman to sculpt in this style. Her work has been included in exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution; the State Hermitage Museum; the Venice Biennale; Galleria d’Arte Moderna; Palazzo Strozzi Palace and Palazzo Reale in Milan.Growing up in New York, Feuerman was deterred from being an artist. She attended Hofstra University, Temple University, and graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City to begin her career as an illustrator. During the early 70’s she went by the artist’s name Carole Jean, illustrating for The New York Times and creating album covers for Alice Cooper and the Rolling Stones, to name a few.In 1981, Feuerman’s work was chosen for exhibition at the Heckscher Museum in New York. After this, she was invited to participate in the ‘Learning through the Arts Program’ at the Guggenheim Museum.Feuerman received the Charles D. Murphy Sculpture Award in 1981. In 1982 she received the Amelia Peabody Award for sculpture. In 2016, she received Best in Show Award for her sculpture ‘Mona Lisa’ by the Huan Tai Museum, and the sculpture was acquired for their permanent collection. Feuerman has also been awarded the Medici Prize by the City of Florence, First Prize at the Beijing Biennale, and the Austrian Biennale, and in 2008 she received First Prize in the Olympic Fine Art exhibition in Beijing. The piece was acquired by the Olympic Museum.She has taught, lectured, and given workshops at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon Guggenheim Museum. In 2011, she founded the Carole A. Feuerman Sculpture Foundation. Her artworks are owned by eighteen museums, as well as in the collections of the City of Peekskill, New York, the City of Sunnyvale California, President and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Dr. Henry Kissinger, the Mikhail Gorbachev Art Foundation, Mr. Steven A. Cohen, Alexandre Grendene Bartelle, and the Malcolm Forbes Magazine Collection.Feuerman’s public works have been displayed across the globe, including but not limited to: Central Park and SoHo, New York, l' Avenue George V in Paris, Harbor City in Hong Kong, Milan, Rome, Giardino della Marinaressa in Italy, New Bond Street, Canary Wharf in London, and Knokke Heist in Belgium. She lives in New York City, and is the wife of Ronald Cohen, and the mother of Lauren Leahy, Sari Gibson, and Craig Feuerman. She has four grandchildren: Hannah Leahy, Sam Leahy, Isla Feuerman, and Kai Feuerman.

Book preview

MY HYPERREALIST LIFE AND LEGACY

by

Carole A. Feuerman

Published by:

Carole A. Feuerman

My Hyperrealist Life and Legacy

Copyright 2020 by Carole A. Feuerman

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Chapter 2: My Childhood

Chapter 3: Motherhood, Art, and Ache

Chapter 4: Ties that Bind

Chapter 5: Introduction to the Art World

Chapter 6: Friends & Colleagues

Chapter 7: Recollections of a Life Lived

Chapter 8: Divorce

Chapter 9: My Life & Art through the Decades

Chapter 10: Chronic Illness

Chapter 11: My Days

Chapter 12: Monographs

Chapter 13: The Pandemic

Chapter 14: My Advice for Achieving Success

Chapter 15: Conclusions and Moving On

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my husband, Ronald Cohen, and my three children, Lauren, Sari, and Craig.

I also want to acknowledge the people that helped me get where I am today. John T. Spike, who always believed in me, edited my latest book, 50 Years of Looking Good, and wrote countless essays and arranged important exhibitions. To the late Malcolm Forbes, who was my first collector. To the late Ann Jaffe, who was my first gallery, to Francois Chabanian of BelAir Fine Art, to my staff that I call the A-Team, and to my family and friends who have always supported me.

This book is also dedicated to those trying to follow their dreams, to survive and achieve, and to those who have beat the odds through hard work, perseverance, and independence.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Family

My grandparents, Max and Ann Ackerman and Samuel and Sarah Molbegat, My parents, Milton, and Sue Ackerman. My children, Lauren Leahy, Sari Gibson, Craig Feuerman. My grandchildren, Hannah Leahy, Sam Leahy, Isla Feuerman, Kai Feuerman.

Studio

David Brown, David Brian Burns II, Jiwoong Cheh., Maria Duran Sampedro, Robert Feinstein, Sunjoo Kang, Griffith Leek, Madelane Morales, Natasha Rodriguez, Ronald Roldan, Alvaro Corzo, Haotian Wang, Ricci Amitrano, Richie Nuzzolese

Galleries

Aria Art Gallery, BelAir Fine Art, Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Chase Contemporary, Markowicz Fine Art, Gallery Biba, Madison Gallery, Art of The World, Oeno Gallery, Gallery on Greene, Galerie Hübner + Hübner, Galerie Klose, Rarity Gallery, Gallery Bhak, Waterfall Gallery, and Zemack Gallery.

Patrons

President and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Dr. Henry Kissinger, the Mikhail Gorbachev Art Foundation, the Malcolm Forbes Magazine Collection, Maluma

To My Publishers

Hudson Hills Press, The Artist Book Foundation, Moretti Press, Sheidegger & Speiss

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York-based artist Carole A. Feuerman is one of the three founding members of the hyperrealist movement that began in the late 1970’s continuing into the present. She is the only woman to sculpt in this style. Her career is highlighted by iconic figurative works of swimmers and dancers. She has taught, lectured, and given workshops at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon Guggenheim Museum. In 2011, she founded the Carole A. Feuerman Sculpture Foundation. Her artworks are owned by eighteen museums, as well as in the collections of the City of Peekskill New York, the City of Sunnyvale California, President and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Frederic R. Weisman Art Foundation, Dr. Henry Kissinger, the Michael Gorbachev Art Foundation, the Malcolm Forbes Magazine Collection. Feuerman’s public works have been displayed across the globe, including but not limited to: Central Park and Petrosino Square in New York City, l’Avenue George V in Paris, Harbor City in Hong Kong, Giardino della Marinaressa in Venice, New Bond Street and Canary Wharf, London and Knokke Heist in Belgium. She lives in New York City and is the wife of Ronald Cohen, and the mother of Lauren Leahy, Sari Gibson and Craig Feuerman. She has six grandchildren: Hannah Leahy, Sam Leahy, Isla Feuerman, Kai Feuerman, Waverley Dantus, and Luna Dantus.

CHAPTER 1

THE BEGINNING

Looking back on the events of my life, as any autobiographer would, I am filled with certain feelings that can’t exactly be placed into words. I often imagine what my reaction would have been like the moment that I opened my eyes for the first time. Had I been devoured by my wonder, or was I scared for what was to come next? In many ways, being birthed is not so different from creating a sculpture. You simply have to go where your heart takes you. If anything, that is the most important lesson that I have learnt from all my years as an artist, a mother, and a wife. If we are to seek any true joy in life, it has to be done at the expense of realizing and following your heart’s inner most desires.

I was born in Hartford, CT, on an army base. I was my parents’ first child, and they named me Carole Jean Ackerman. I must admit that my birth somewhat brought my parents into trouble. I was a breech birth, born on a full moon. Luckily, all went well, and I was born a healthy child. Being an astrologer, as well as an artist, it’s an interesting fact that when I came into this world, the star Almach was in the sky. This star represents success in all venusian occupations, artistic ability, popularity, fame, and fortune. Canopus, the pathfinder, was conjunct the exact degree of my moon, and Castor, the star representing one’s ability to write and create, was crossing the degree of my career. So, you could say there are no accidents. Everything happens for a reason, and my life is an excellent example.

Mom and Dad in 1945

Mom, and Dad met each other in Brooklyn. There isn’t much I know about how and when because I never asked them. The only thing mom ever told me was that she had a boyfriend when she met dad. She said that she knew that my father was the one, the very first time she met him. She left the other gentleman and married my father. They loved each other greatly. My mother was from an orthodox Jewish family that settled in Babylon, New York. They were immigrants and came to this country from Austria. My grandmother Sarah Molbegat and Grandfather Samuel were both educated, and together they started the first pharmacy in Babylon Long Island, called Moby Drugs. They had four children, Abner, Beverly, Rose, and my mother, Sue.

Sam and Sarah Molbegat

From the hospital, I was taken to my first home in Brooklyn, NY, where we lived. By the time I turned two years old, my mom had a second child. My younger sister was named, Barbara. One of the earliest memories that I have of her include her bawling her eyes out. Even at such a young age, I was surprised to see hear how loud she could cry. I did not think that babies were capable of making such noise. To us, however, Barbara was always Patty.

Playing in the snow in front of our Brooklyn home at 4 years old

My parents never wanted girls, and lucky for them, two years later, they had a son that they named Richard. When they had him, they gave him all their love and affection. In those days it was culturally believed that a son was more likely to support their parents when they got older, and that they would work or inherit the family business. Having a daughter meant that you might have to support her financially if she didn’t marry. I think my parents also believed that men were smarter than woman, and that women shouldn’t work, and that they should marry a man who could take care of them. During mom’s life, she always flirted with the men she came in contact with, like a waiter taking her order in a restaurant, or her doctor, telling them how handsome and smart they were. When my brother was growing up, my parents bought my brother everything he wanted and everything they thought he might want, like a custom-made pool table and a sports car. It didn’t matter if it was an outrageous demand or an innocent wish. My brother would drive to school while I would walk, as my parents refused to acknowledge my desires. They also set him in up an airplane business, but it failed. After that he worked in the family taxi business. They taught him about the busines, and years later, they helped him get started in a taxi business of his own.

Richard, Carole, Patty

Easter Sunday – Hollis Hills

I don’t have a lot of memories of when I lived in Brooklyn as I only lived there until I was five years old. Our next destination was Hollis Hills, Queens. Having three children so close together turned out to be too much for mom to handle. She needed some space, which meant at least one of us needed to go and live with members of our extended family. Patty had to spend a lot of time with Grandma Sara and Grandpa Sam in Florida, while I was sent to live weekends with my grandparents Max and Anna in Brooklyn and summers and holidays with them at our country home in Liberty, New York.

Grandpa and Grandma were immigrants from Poland and Russia who had come to the United States to escape Hitler and his troops. Grandma Ann was born in 1891 and was one of the kindest women I knew. Her father was Heschel Chaba, but once he lived in the US, he changed his name to Harry Haber. Grandma’s mother was Zelda Chaba. They had three children, Milton, Toby, and Marilyn. Zelda, her mother, died when Grandma was 4, thus leaving Grandma and her two younger sisters without a mother. Her father remarried Fagr Chaya, known as Fanny, and they had five more kids. Grandma was always in touch with all of them, and especially Sonny Stern. Thanks to Sonny’s hiring a Polish researcher, I have some information from him. Based on what he sent, Poland and Russia were almost interchangeable, which I think has to do with how often the border lines were changed. He got the ship manifests from the Ellis Island records, so we know that Grandma came over with her father alone in 1913 when she was 13 years old. Fanny taught her how to cook, and it was the first time she felt she had a mother.

Ann and Max Ackerman

Grandpa Max’s birthplace was Plaszow, Galicia, which was Poland and very close to where Auschwitz was to be built. It was also outside of Krakow. This is also where Schindler’s factory was located. Grandpa Max told us this story about the situation in Plaszow said that a group of Russian soldiers showed up at his place in Galicia, so his father took his sisters down to the river and covered them with mud. And when the Russian soldiers came, he told the soldiers that the girls had a contagious disease, to protect them from being raped. The situation at that time grew increasingly dangerous for Jewish people, and Grandpa, at the age of 14, took a ship to the USA. When he arrived at Ellis Island, the authorities asked him when his birthday was, and he said July 4, 1913. He knew he was going to love America.

Grandma was a cleaning lady, and grandpa eventually got a job sewing knickers. He sewed faster than the other employees and was good at saving money. One day, he approached the two best workers and asked them if they wanted to open their own factory. Since he couldn’t read or write English, they wrote up a contract, which he signed. After signing it, they laughed and told him that he just signed his money away to them. He was out, and they were in. It wasn’t the