About the Artist

My mother was an artist… 

Nancy Weinberg was life-long artist for over 90 years! For several years as a grammar school student in the Chicago Public schools she won free instruction at the Art Institute with Dudley Crafts Watson and George Buehr.

Nancy once wrote: "during this period I lived with my mother in a dark apartment, sleeping on an iron cot in the kitchen. Is it any wonder that the magic world of art—Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent van Gogh, Auguste Renoir—the list was never-ending, each shared a personal view which took me on flights far removed from my spare existence.”

As a high school student, she became fascinated by the powerful images of Kathy Kollwitz, a German painter. Said Nancy, “her depictions of the aftermath of war, the gaunt women cradling their dead babies in work-worn arms, and tired workmen moved me. Her compassion overwhelmed me.”

The works of William Gropper, the Jewish American artist who's prolific output of political cartoons included in left-wing newspapers were notable because he did a new one every day for 30 years. They were truly marvels of creativity. His painting, “The Senate,” opened my eyes and thought processes to the perspicacious satire of his portrayal of that august body.

She married at 19 and World War II intervened. She marched against the atomic bomb in the 1950s. At the onset of the Vietnam War, with her husband, son, and daughter she became actively involved in the antiwar movement.

In the 1980s, she sewed multiple decorative banners for CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador). One of her proudest moment was when the Chicago Police impounded and arrested one of her banners! The banner was put in a cell.

“During the years between my teens and now, I have kept, in my memory and in my heart, respect and love of my forty-eight heroes, whose portraits I’ve painted in the last eight years. Many of them have helped form my political views and have given me a basic awareness of my universe. Of such stuff as these were my hopes and inspirations created. Currently I experience a great sense of joy in giving expression to my heroes who, although most are no longer here, still remain a vital part of my being.”

Her son Joe writes: “As you look in amazement at the art created by my mother Nancy Weinberg, you'd be even more amazed to learn that for most of her life she didn't really consider herself an artist. She came of age in an era where artist meant a male. All the great artists she learned about were male. Except for a few women allowed into the male artists club, museums were full of male artists. So, even as she won scholarships to the Art Institute of Chicago as a little girl year after year, even as she produced art constantly, even as many people complemented her art, she never fully believed that she was in fact an artist.

Over the years, she worked in many mediums: drawing, painting, batik, hooked rugs, wood cuts, jewelry, painted ceramic tiles, painted wooden designs and furniture among others. She made many Christmas ornaments and angels in the 1970’s and 1980’s. She cut them out on a scroll saw or band saw (!), sanded them and of course painted them beautifully.

She painted a series of paintings in the Limner style (American folk art where children looked like tiny adults) only she made all the people cats! She painted another series of famous paintings from art history: Blue Boy, Degas dancers, Botero women in a bar, The Naked Maja to identify just a few. Again she transformed all the humans into cats. She painted another series of paintings of images of Old Paris. She has painted many homages to her idol Frida Kahlo. 

In 2012, she had to move into a nursing home in Skokie, Illinois. She had a range of physical problems but was mentally sharp until the end. She was depressed at losing her independence. She wrote: “since moving to the nursing home eight years ago, I was determined to continue painting, but because of limited space, I was forced to scale down from relatively large paintings to a small easel and 9 x 12 canvasses. What to execute on a 9 x 12 canvas? Portraits of course!”

She came upon the idea of painting a few of her radical heroes and then couldn't stop. Her hero paintings were mounted on the walls around her small room. She was constantly lecturing visitors about her heroes. Many people either did not recognize or never knew who these great people were in the first place. All of her heroes were displayed at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in a juried show of the work of clients of students receiving their Masters degrees in art therapy. At the 5 hour opening of the show, she floated above her wheelchair, elated by the overwhelmingly positive response to her work.

A print of her painting of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg was gifted to the family benevolent foundation, the Rosenberg Fund for Children. The print was displayed next to two sketches by Picasso! Her painting of Che Guevara was juried into the show celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party.

In 2016, thanks to an Art Therapist, Nancy’s Radical Hero paintings were shown in the gallery at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. For old Chicagoans, the gallery is located in the building that was Carson Pirie Scott & Co. Photographer James Richards IV took some marvelous pictures of Nancy’s art and many attendees.

She was so excited that her son, Joe, saw Bobby Seale speak at Madison college and took a print of her painting of Bobby and Huey Newton, and got it signed! She created the decoupage piece, “Police Brutality”, in 2020.

She painted until she died in 2020 (a month and 4 days shy of her 98th birthday).

Her talent and passion are an inspiration to all of us.”

“If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine.” Che Guevara