Berman brothers (painters)
Eugène Berman and his brother Leonid Berman were Russian Neo-romantic painters and theater and opera designers.
Early years
Born in Russia, the Bermans studied art in Europe, before returning to begin their formal art education with the Russian realist painter P.S. Naumoff. They fled the Russian Revolution in 1918. In Paris the Bermans exhibited at the Galerie Pierre where their work earned them the name "Neo-Romantics" for its melancholy and introspective qualities, having taken inspiration from the Blue Period paintings of Pablo Picasso. Other Neo-Romantic painters were Christian Bérard, Pavel Tchelitchev, Kristians Tonny and, later in America, their friend Muriel Streeter.Eugène's work was characterized by lonely landscapes featuring sculptural and architectural elements, often ruins, rendered in a neo-classical manner, whereas that of Leonid depicted beaches with fisherman's boats and nets in many parts of the world. In 1935 Eugène left for New York where he exhibited frequently at the Julien Levy Gallery. Later, in the 1940s, Eugène settled in Los Angeles and married the actress Ona Munson, while Leonid remained in New York and married the harpsichordist Sylvia Marlowe. In 1950 he exhibited at Instituto de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires. In 1950, Eugene Berman was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full member in 1954.