Leonardo Nierman (1932) is a Mexican artist mostly known for his painting and sculpture. He at first wanted to be a violinist, but gave it up after twenty years when he compared a recording of his playing with that of Yehudi Menuhin. However, his musical training has been a major influence on his painting and sculpture, reproducing movement and harmony as Nierman sees similarities between the two disciplines. Nierman has had exhibitions in Mexico and abroad and over sixty recognitions of his work, half of which are from outside Mexico.
Leonardo Nierman Mendelejis was born in Mexico City. He is the only child of Lithuanian Jewish parents Clara Mendelejis, a bakery worker and Chanel Nierman, a bus inspector who later started a small jacket factory. Nierman's parents arrived to Mexico in the mid 1920s, his father from Lithuania and his mother from the Ukraine, both poor. The two met in Mexico.
When he was a child, he wanted to be a musician and dedicated himself to the violin for two decades. At first he thought he had wasted his time with the violin but has since decided that it gave him his philosophy on life and prepared him for his painting and sculpture. After he left music, he began to be attracted to color, but he remains attached to music. However, he was still hesitant about painting.
Despite his affinity for the arts, Nierman's formal education was not in this field. He graduated from preparatory in 1951, with a concentration in physics and mathematics. In 1953, he studied the psychology of color and form in static and moving bodies. He also began spending large amounts of time in museums. He completed a bachelor's in business administration at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México but never pursued this career because he had begun to paint, including a mural at his school. He began painting on his own in his bedroom in his parents’ home.
Nierman had been painting for a while when Raquel Tibol invited him to exhibit his work at the Centro de Deportes Israeli in Mexico City. He told himself that if he did not sell a single painting, he would quit. Two paintings were purchased and were then seen by the owner of IFA Gallery in Washington, DC. Since 1959, this gallery has exhibited Nierman's work and opened doors for him internationally.
Since then, he has had over 100 exhibitions in the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe. His work can be found in museums and public buildings in Australia, Austria, Colombia, Costa Rica, the United States, Spain, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Monaco, Panama, Sweden and Thailand . These include the gallery of the Vatican, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, The Art Modern Gallery of New York and Phoenix Art Museum .
His metal sculptures appear in places such as universities, concert halls, research centers, libraries, cultural centers, atriums and parks in countries such as Canada, the United States, Ecuador and Lithuania. These include the Flame of the Millennium which is at the Ohio Street interchange of the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago, Eternal Light at the Outpatient Care Center of the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago and Sensación de Vuelo at the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
In 1997 he created a limited edition postage stamp for the Mexican postal service.
His artistic production includes painting, tapestry design, sculpture, murals, engraving and glass work. His first artwork was done in the 1950s, influenced by the work of Kandinsky, Klee, Miró and Chirico, as well as the abstract, cubist and surrealist movements. However, much of his later work has been shaped by his interpretation of nature and a search for the relationship between abstract art and the cosmos, spurred by his studies of color and movement in the 1950s.
His sculpture work has been made of marble, silver, gold, bronze and stainless steel, but it is usually silver-toned. These often contain elements such as birds, angels, archangels, winged victories, flames, and musical instruments. His metal sculptures evoke movement and harmony usually through the use of spirals
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| Abstrakt sculpture 1965 |
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| Flame Sculpture on Wood Base 1968 |
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| Untitled Large Bronze Sculpture on Wood Base, 1968 |
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| Abstract Bronze Sculpture 1970 |
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| Untitled (Love) 1970 |
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| Abstract Bronze Sculpture 1971 |
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| Untitled 1979 |
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| Abstract Sculpture 1980 |
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| Form in the Wind 1981 |
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| Venus Unique Onyx Marble Sculpture, 1981 |
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| Peace 1984 |
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| Flame Millennium Gateway Chicago, 2002 |
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| Flame Millennium Gateway Chicago, 2002 |
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| Flame of Wisdom 2006 |
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| Flame of Friendship San Diego, 2011 |
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| Abstract Bronze Sculpture n.d. |
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| Abstract Bronze Sculpture n.d. |
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| Abstract Bronze Sculpture n.d. |
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| Abstract Bronze Sculpture n.d. |
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| Bird in Flight n.d. |
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| Flight n.d. |
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| La Flama n.d. |
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| The Flame of Hope n.d. |
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| The Hunt n.d. |
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| Untitled n.d. |
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| Wing n.d. |
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| Enchanted Valley 1966 Painting |
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| Volcanic Wind 1968 painting |
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| Untitled 1969 Painting |
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| Shipwreck 1997 Painting |
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| Peluqueria 1958 Painting |
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| untitled n.d. Painting |
Very Sleek and graceful!
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