Born in Bucharest, Romania, Hedda Sterne studied in Bucharest, Vienna, and Paris. She exhibited in the "Salon des Surindépendants" in Paris before immigrating to the United States in 1941.
Sterne was a fellow at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in 1967. Over the years she has exhibited many different styles, ranging from abstract expressionism to minimalism. Her work possesses an air of mystery, derived in part from its spatial ambiguity. In many compositions, the field is divided in registers of varying sizes, creating movement both vertically and in undefined space. Loosely drawn, textured passages envelop the underlying geometric structure, obscuring it at times and thus contributing to the enigmatic character of the work.
[This is an excerpt from the interactive companion program to the videodisc American Art from the National Gallery of Art. Produced by the Department of Education Resources, this teaching resource is one of the Gallery's free-loan educational programs.]