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Mala Breuer

Contemporary Abstract Expressionism painter
United States
1927 - 2017

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Mala Breuer was born in 1927 in Oakland, California. After high school, Breuer attended what is now known as the San Francisco Art Institute, where she studied under artists such as Richard Diebenkom and Mark Rothko, among others. The influence of Abstract Expressionist works on her own art is notable even now. In the late 1960s, Breuer was experimenting with pouring water-thinned acrylic paint onto large canvases. Once these were exhibited, one gallerist in San Francisco suggested she go to New York to pursue abstract and Minimalist art.

Breuer moved to New York and remained there for eight years, where her work began to evolve. She began to work with palette knives to make marks on her canvases. Her work gained traction in New York, and she received much recognition during her time there. However, in 1984 she moved to northern New Mexico, where her art changed yet again. The new landscape influenced her use of color, light, and minimalism in her artworks. Although Breuer is now retired from her art practice, died in New Mexico in 2017, and her works can be found in collections worldwide.

Madison Duran ‘20
March 2019

Sources:

“Mala Breuer.” BENTLEY GALLERY, www.bentleygallery.com/portfolio-items/mala-breuer/.
“Mala Breuer.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 June 1994,
www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/06/27/art/1bc4c9e8-f3fd-4e2e-ab9b-498
16832805e/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.86d18012bd90.
“Mala Breuer.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Apr. 2018,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mala_Breuer.