Lucia Stern
American, 1895-1987
Dual Personality, ca. 1945
Mixed media
29 1/2 x 21 1/2 in
90.10.2
Gift of Mrs. Grace Vogel Aldworth
Collection of the Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University
http://museum.marquette.edu/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=3717&viewType=detailView

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Lucia Stern was born Martha Ida Lucia Karker in 1895, in Milwaukee, WI. Stern studied music, literature, and art at Marquette University, the Milwaukee Conservatory, the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and Columbia University in New York. She began to pursue an artistic career in 1935, after being inspired by modernist and  non-objective artists. Stern was a leading figure in non-objective art in the United States, working in drawing, painting, decoupage, and mixed media which included stitch work. Later in her career, she worked with sculpture and architecture, as well as experimented with sound, light, and movement. Stern was a consummate Milwaukee philanthropist and also served on the board of the Milwaukee Art Center, now known as the Milwaukee Art Museum, where she became a trustee in 1967. She also served as a docent and lecturer there from 1942 through the mid-1980s.  Additionally, she was a member of Marquette University’s Women’s Council, which was a driving force behind the creation of the Haggerty Museum of Art.