Veronica Helfensteller
| Veronica Helfensteller | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
February 7, 1910 Fort Worth, TX |
| Died | September 30, 1964 (aged 54) Tucson, AZ |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Blanche McVeigh |
| Alma mater |
Washington University in St. Louis Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Fort Worth School of Art |
| Known for | Printmaking, painting |
| Notable work | Cienega Willow; Three Virgins, Three Giraffes and a Turtle; The Artists and the Tiger; Doorway Aviary |
| Movement | Fort Worth Circle |
| Spouse(s) | Haakon J. Ogle |
| Elected | President, Fort Worth Artists Guild 1939 |
Veronica Helfensteller (1910–1964) was an American painter and printer, who was a member of the Fort Worth Circle, a group of artists in Fort Worth, Texas, active in the 1940 and 1950s.
Born in 1910, Helfensteller's parents were Armin and Louise Helfensteller. She lived in Fort Worth during her early years. In 1926-27, she studied at the School of Fine Arts, Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, Missouri) before continuing her studies at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (Colorado Springs, Colorado).She later studied at the International School of Art in Budapest Hungary.
Helfensteller exhibited her works in a solo show at the Fort Worth School of Fine Arts in 1938. Animals were at the center of many of Helfensteller's works. They were often depicted in fantastical, allegorical settings. Helfensteller was one of six artists from the Fort Worth group whose work was shown in the Weyhe Gallery in New York in 1944. In 1944, she began etching sessions that were attended by other Fort Worth Circle artists.
That same year, she began etching sessions that were attended by other Fort Worth Circle artists. Kelly Fearing, Dickson Reeder, Bror Utter, Lia Cuilty, Bill Bomar, Cynthia Brants and others would meet at Helfensteller's to work on their art. These weekly meetings were an opportunity for the artists to discuss art, listen to music, and borrow Helfensteller's printmaking press.
The last survivor of these long-ago meetings, Fearing, recalls them as a magical time in the waning days of a world war, a time of inventiveness and exuberance. Some nights they put aside their experimental engravings and, helped by the sherry they all adored, broke out into impromptu dancing.
After the group separated, Helfensteller moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she opened a candy shop.
Her work was shown in the retrospective exhibition "Beyond Regionalism: The Fort Worth School (1945–1955)" (Albany, Texas, 1986); in the exhibition "The Texas Printmakers, 1940–1965" (Meadows Museum, Dallas, 1990), and the exhibition "Prints of the Fort Worth Circle, 1940–1960", (Archer Milton Huntington Art Gallery, 1992). Her work is held in the collections of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
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