Herman Cherry, born on April 10, 1909, in Atlantic City, NJ, to immigrant parents from Russia and Minsk Gurbenia (now Lithuania), embarked on a remarkable artistic journey. Early exposure to art at the Fleischer School and the Philadelphia Museum, where Benjamin West's painting "Death on the Pale Horse" deeply influenced him, ignited his passion for artistic pursuit. In 1923, his family moved to Los Angeles, where Cherry faced economic hardships but educated himself at the library while working odd jobs. He later attended the Art Students League in L.A. with Stanton MacDonald Wright and continued his studies in New York with Thomas Hart Benton.
During the 1930s, Cherry exhibited works by fellow artists at a small gallery he persuaded the owner to open upstairs from the Stanley Rose Bookstore. His interactions with prominent artists like Fletcher Martin, Reuben Kadish, Philip Goldstein, and Helen Lundeberg formed lifelong friendships. Although unable to enlist during WWII, Cherry worked under the WPA on the West Coast and designed sets for Duke Ellington's "Jump for Joy." He traveled to Mexico to study murals by Mexican painters, which influenced politically engaged artists in Los Angeles.
After WWII, Cherry and his wife, Denny Winters, moved to Woodstock, NY, where he immersed himself in a vibrant artist community and embraced Cubist abstraction. A Guggenheim Fellowship took them to Paris, where they connected with American GIs who had settled in the city after the war. Cherry explored art and culture in Italy and Spain, with a profound impact from the Lascaux Caves in France, influencing his 'black' paintings in the early 1950s.
Returning to the US, Cherry became a member of The Club in New York City, exhibiting his non-objective abstraction. He traveled to Brazil and Peru, later accepting teaching engagements at various universities. Cherry co-founded a slide business and traveled to Europe again. In 1974, his teaching career ended due to age policies, and he turned to poetry. In 1975, Cherry visited Europe, reconnecting with old friends and meeting his future wife, Regina Kremer, in Berlin. The CETA program in the mid-1970s brought him back to the studio, and he found renewed interest in monoprints, which influenced his paintings in the mid-1980s.
By the late 1980s, Cherry's work gained interest from dealers, leading to retrospectives and exhibitions up until his passing on April 10, 1992. His artistic journey left an indelible mark on the art world and continues to inspire audiences to this day.
Source: Regina Cherry, Executrix, The Estate of Herman Cherry.