1928-2012
The last of a nationally known trio of artist siblings, Renee Brown passed away in Ventura on September 5 after a lingering illness.
Born Renee Anne Nemerov in New York City on October 13, 1928, to Gertrude Russek Nemerov (1901-1994) and David Nemerov (1895-1963), she was educated at the Dalton School, the New School and the Art Students League.
Primarily a sculptor, she studied under artists Rufino Tamayo, Camillo Egas, Jean Liberte and Swiss impressionist Hanseggar. Kind, gentle and eternally optimistic, she was the sister of photographer Diane Nemerov Arbus (1923-1971) and of Pulitzer-winning poet and U.S. Poet Laureate Howard Nemerov (1920-1994).
She married stained glass artist and writer Roy Benard Sparkia (1914-1992) in 1947 in New York City. They became the parents of a daughter, Alisa Anne, after settling in the Frankfort, Mich., area.
A sculptor and painter, Renee exhibited in solo shows, two-artist shows with her husband, and three-person shows with her painter-father and husband in New York City, Michigan, Florida and New Mexico.
With Roy Sparkia, she created the stained glass illuminated panels of the Eight Wonders of the World that graced the 34th street entrance of the Empire State Building for almost 50 years.
She and Roy co-founded the Benzie County Art Center in northern Michigan, and she taught sculpture at the Interlochen Fine Arts Academy.
Her lithe, fluid sculptures of dancers, families and musicians in bronze-metallic glazes on wire armatures, some larger than life-sized, were reminiscent of Giacometti's work, and often incorporated her husband's stained glass techniques, which employed an interplay of refracted light with transparent colors. One reviewer called her "an innovator combining the values of both metal and glass-like plastics, [which] opened the customary mono-tonality of metal art to the rich augmentations of color." Her busts of children were so lifelike they seemed to breathe.
Together, they created a line of furniture in plastics that highlighted driftwood, sand and stones from the beaches in Michigan.
Her works were purchased by collectors around the world, including Lord Beaverbrook of Canada and Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Cummings, creator of Sara Lee Foods. Her work was included in the State Department's cultural exchange, "Plastic in the Arts," with the Soviet Union in the mid-1960s.
After the passing of Roy Sparkia, she met artist and architect Thomas E. Brown of Santa Fe. They married in 1995.
In New Mexico, she began to paint more, in acrylics mainly, capturing landscapes from the local mountain landscapes and from the shores of Lake Michigan in gorgeous, rich colors, both in literal and in more contemporary geometric images. She also continued to capture children in portraits, moving from three-dimensional to two-dimensional representations. An effervescent, joyful person, she loved sharing her life and art with family and friends and her home with pets.
She and Tom exhibited jointly in several galleries in New Mexico, prior to his passing in 2005, when she moved to Ventura to join her daughter.
Her final exhibition was hosted at Ventura College in 2005. She was the subject of a lengthy article in the Ventura County Star in 2005.
The last of a nationally known trio of artist siblings, Renee Brown passed away in Ventura on September 5 after a lingering illness.
Born Renee Anne Nemerov in New York City on October 13, 1928, to Gertrude Russek Nemerov (1901-1994) and David Nemerov (1895-1963), she was educated at the Dalton School, the New School and the Art Students League.
Primarily a sculptor, she studied under artists Rufino Tamayo, Camillo Egas, Jean Liberte and Swiss impressionist Hanseggar. Kind, gentle and eternally optimistic, she was the sister of photographer Diane Nemerov Arbus (1923-1971) and of Pulitzer-winning poet and U.S. Poet Laureate Howard Nemerov (1920-1994).
She married stained glass artist and writer Roy Benard Sparkia (1914-1992) in 1947 in New York City. They became the parents of a daughter, Alisa Anne, after settling in the Frankfort, Mich., area.
A sculptor and painter, Renee exhibited in solo shows, two-artist shows with her husband, and three-person shows with her painter-father and husband in New York City, Michigan, Florida and New Mexico.
With Roy Sparkia, she created the stained glass illuminated panels of the Eight Wonders of the World that graced the 34th street entrance of the Empire State Building for almost 50 years.
She and Roy co-founded the Benzie County Art Center in northern Michigan, and she taught sculpture at the Interlochen Fine Arts Academy.
Her lithe, fluid sculptures of dancers, families and musicians in bronze-metallic glazes on wire armatures, some larger than life-sized, were reminiscent of Giacometti's work, and often incorporated her husband's stained glass techniques, which employed an interplay of refracted light with transparent colors. One reviewer called her "an innovator combining the values of both metal and glass-like plastics, [which] opened the customary mono-tonality of metal art to the rich augmentations of color." Her busts of children were so lifelike they seemed to breathe.
Together, they created a line of furniture in plastics that highlighted driftwood, sand and stones from the beaches in Michigan.
Her works were purchased by collectors around the world, including Lord Beaverbrook of Canada and Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Cummings, creator of Sara Lee Foods. Her work was included in the State Department's cultural exchange, "Plastic in the Arts," with the Soviet Union in the mid-1960s.
After the passing of Roy Sparkia, she met artist and architect Thomas E. Brown of Santa Fe. They married in 1995.
In New Mexico, she began to paint more, in acrylics mainly, capturing landscapes from the local mountain landscapes and from the shores of Lake Michigan in gorgeous, rich colors, both in literal and in more contemporary geometric images. She also continued to capture children in portraits, moving from three-dimensional to two-dimensional representations. An effervescent, joyful person, she loved sharing her life and art with family and friends and her home with pets.
She and Tom exhibited jointly in several galleries in New Mexico, prior to his passing in 2005, when she moved to Ventura to join her daughter.
Her final exhibition was hosted at Ventura College in 2005. She was the subject of a lengthy article in the Ventura County Star in 2005.
1928-2012
The last of a nationally known trio of artist siblings, Renee Brown passed away in Ventura on September 5 after a lingering illness.
Born Renee Anne Nemerov in New York City on October 13, 1928, to Gertrude Russek Nemerov (1901-1994) and David Nemerov (1895-1963), she was educated at the Dalton School, the New School and the Art Students League.
Primarily a sculptor, she studied under artists Rufino Tamayo, Camillo Egas, Jean Liberte and Swiss impressionist Hanseggar. Kind, gentle and eternally optimistic, she was the sister of photographer Diane Nemerov Arbus (1923-1971) and of Pulitzer-winning poet and U.S. Poet Laureate Howard Nemerov (1920-1994).
She married stained glass artist and writer Roy Benard Sparkia (1914-1992) in 1947 in New York City. They became the parents of a daughter, Alisa Anne, after settling in the Frankfort, Mich., area.
A sculptor and painter, Renee exhibited in solo shows, two-artist shows with her husband, and three-person shows with her painter-father and husband in New York City, Michigan, Florida and New Mexico.
With Roy Sparkia, she created the stained glass illuminated panels of the Eight Wonders of the World that graced the 34th street entrance of the Empire State Building for almost 50 years.
She and Roy co-founded the Benzie County Art Center in northern Michigan, and she taught sculpture at the Interlochen Fine Arts Academy.
Her lithe, fluid sculptures of dancers, families and musicians in bronze-metallic glazes on wire armatures, some larger than life-sized, were reminiscent of Giacometti's work, and often incorporated her husband's stained glass techniques, which employed an interplay of refracted light with transparent colors. One reviewer called her "an innovator combining the values of both metal and glass-like plastics, [which] opened the customary mono-tonality of metal art to the rich augmentations of color." Her busts of children were so lifelike they seemed to breathe.
Together, they created a line of furniture in plastics that highlighted driftwood, sand and stones from the beaches in Michigan.
Her works were purchased by collectors around the world, including Lord Beaverbrook of Canada and Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Cummings, creator of Sara Lee Foods. Her work was included in the State Department's cultural exchange, "Plastic in the Arts," with the Soviet Union in the mid-1960s.
After the passing of Roy Sparkia, she met artist and architect Thomas E. Brown of Santa Fe. They married in 1995.
In New Mexico, she began to paint more, in acrylics mainly, capturing landscapes from the local mountain landscapes and from the shores of Lake Michigan in gorgeous, rich colors, both in literal and in more contemporary geometric images. She also continued to capture children in portraits, moving from three-dimensional to two-dimensional representations. An effervescent, joyful person, she loved sharing her life and art with family and friends and her home with pets.
She and Tom exhibited jointly in several galleries in New Mexico, prior to his passing in 2005, when she moved to Ventura to join her daughter.
Her final exhibition was hosted at Ventura College in 2005. She was the subject of a lengthy article in the Ventura County Star in 2005.
The last of a nationally known trio of artist siblings, Renee Brown passed away in Ventura on September 5 after a lingering illness.
Born Renee Anne Nemerov in New York City on October 13, 1928, to Gertrude Russek Nemerov (1901-1994) and David Nemerov (1895-1963), she was educated at the Dalton School, the New School and the Art Students League.
Primarily a sculptor, she studied under artists Rufino Tamayo, Camillo Egas, Jean Liberte and Swiss impressionist Hanseggar. Kind, gentle and eternally optimistic, she was the sister of photographer Diane Nemerov Arbus (1923-1971) and of Pulitzer-winning poet and U.S. Poet Laureate Howard Nemerov (1920-1994).
She married stained glass artist and writer Roy Benard Sparkia (1914-1992) in 1947 in New York City. They became the parents of a daughter, Alisa Anne, after settling in the Frankfort, Mich., area.
A sculptor and painter, Renee exhibited in solo shows, two-artist shows with her husband, and three-person shows with her painter-father and husband in New York City, Michigan, Florida and New Mexico.
With Roy Sparkia, she created the stained glass illuminated panels of the Eight Wonders of the World that graced the 34th street entrance of the Empire State Building for almost 50 years.
She and Roy co-founded the Benzie County Art Center in northern Michigan, and she taught sculpture at the Interlochen Fine Arts Academy.
Her lithe, fluid sculptures of dancers, families and musicians in bronze-metallic glazes on wire armatures, some larger than life-sized, were reminiscent of Giacometti's work, and often incorporated her husband's stained glass techniques, which employed an interplay of refracted light with transparent colors. One reviewer called her "an innovator combining the values of both metal and glass-like plastics, [which] opened the customary mono-tonality of metal art to the rich augmentations of color." Her busts of children were so lifelike they seemed to breathe.
Together, they created a line of furniture in plastics that highlighted driftwood, sand and stones from the beaches in Michigan.
Her works were purchased by collectors around the world, including Lord Beaverbrook of Canada and Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Cummings, creator of Sara Lee Foods. Her work was included in the State Department's cultural exchange, "Plastic in the Arts," with the Soviet Union in the mid-1960s.
After the passing of Roy Sparkia, she met artist and architect Thomas E. Brown of Santa Fe. They married in 1995.
In New Mexico, she began to paint more, in acrylics mainly, capturing landscapes from the local mountain landscapes and from the shores of Lake Michigan in gorgeous, rich colors, both in literal and in more contemporary geometric images. She also continued to capture children in portraits, moving from three-dimensional to two-dimensional representations. An effervescent, joyful person, she loved sharing her life and art with family and friends and her home with pets.
She and Tom exhibited jointly in several galleries in New Mexico, prior to his passing in 2005, when she moved to Ventura to join her daughter.
Her final exhibition was hosted at Ventura College in 2005. She was the subject of a lengthy article in the Ventura County Star in 2005.
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See more Sparkia Brown or Nemerov memorials in:
- Gate of Heaven Cemetery Sparkia Brown or Nemerov
- Albuquerque Sparkia Brown or Nemerov
- Bernalillo County Sparkia Brown or Nemerov
- New Mexico Sparkia Brown or Nemerov
- USA Sparkia Brown or Nemerov
- Find a Grave Sparkia Brown or Nemerov
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