(Christmas Celebration)

Esther Hamerman

Polish-American artist Esther Wachsmann Hamerman is considered a true "memory painter," though critics often attribute her style to that of an Outsider or Primitive as she only began painting at age sixty, and had no formal training. No matter what the appropriate label, her densely populated, lively, and intricately narrative work continues to engage viewers today.

The Hamermans, Esther and Baruch, operated a small import business in Vienna for several years until the Nazi regime became too much of a threat for them and their four daughters, as they were Jewish. They fled in 1938 on a ship heading to Trinidad, where they spent the bulk of the war years in a British internment camp. In 1944, they managed to immigrate to the U.S., moving to New York City.

Finally settled, Esther was encouraged by her youngest daughter, artist Helen Breger (1918-2013) and son-in-law to take up painting. No long after, they entered two of her works were in a national competition at the Whitney Museum, winning a prize and laughing Esther's professional art career.

Hamerman drew on her memories of pre-war Vienna to paint this Christmas scene, complete with Santa Claus and a decorated tree. Skiers and skaters, children and adults move through the foreground randomly, changing sizes along with the buildings, a bus, streetlights, etc., to balance the composition and activate the situation. Hamerman, like all Primitives, made up her own rules - to great effect.

Today, one of Hamerman's paintings of the East River hangs at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.