Collect: American Art Featuring 'Touching the Sun' - The Collection of Dr. Julian Katz and Dr. Sheila Moriber Katz

Theresa Ferber Bernstein-Meyerowitz, a prominent member of the Philadelphia Ten, was born in Kraków, now in  Poland, and raised in Philadelphia. She received her artistic training in both Philadelphia and New York City. Over nearly a century, she created hundreds of paintings, alongside other artworks, and authored several books and journals.

Bernstein and her husband, William Meyerowitz, also an artist, resided and worked in Manhattan and Gloucester, Massachusetts. Her paintings, ranging from portraits to depictions of daily life and contemporary issues, evolved from realism to expressionism.  She remained artistically active throughout her life, commemorated with a solo exhibition of 110 artworks for her 110th birthday. Passing away in 2002, just weeks shy of her 112th birthday. 

Bernstein's style was influenced by Robert Henri, John Sloan, Stuart Davis, and other members of the Ashcan School movement. Despite leaning towards expressionism, she maintained a commitment to figuration, capturing the essence of real life and societal issues. Her subjects ranged from the women's suffrage movement and World War I to jazz, immigration, unemployment, and racial discrimination.

Bernstein depicted a cross-section of New Yorkers in her studio near Bryant Park and Times Square, utilizing bold colors and large brushstrokes to convey the vibrancy of her subjects. Additionally, her summers in Gloucester and visits to Coney Island inspired paintings of harbors, beaches, fish, and still lifes. Often overlooked due to her gender, she sometimes signed her works simply as "T. Bernstein" or with her surname to mitigate discrimination.