Nathan Lerner (1913–1997): Photographs

Nathan Lerner

Galerie Berinson presents works by the Chicago-born photographer, painter, and designer Nathan Lerner (1913–1997). Starting in 1937, on the recommendation of Alexander Archipenko, he began visiting the New Bauhaus school, which was founded by László Moholy-Nagy and followed the Bauhaus concept. He studied with Gyorgy Kepes, became his assistant in 1939, and devised artistic experiments such as the light box. Lerner’s trademarks are light installations and light drawings.

The exhibit features original photographs from Nathan Lerner’s first solo exhibition in 1973 at the Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, US. For the show, he created prints up to 150 x 90 cm in size of motifs that he’d photographed in the late 1930s during his studies at New Bauhaus.

Lerner left the Institute of Design in 1949 and, together with the emigrated Bauhaus member Hin Bredendiek, opened a design studio, where he worked on designing everyday objects (for instance deodorant rollers, nail polish bottles, shoe polish applicators, and honey bears) with success until 1973.