Robert von Neumann

(1888, Rostock, Germany – 1976, West Bend)

German born Robert von Neumann began studying art at the Vereinigte Staatschulen fur freie und angewandte Kunst (United State Schools for Free and Applied Arts) in Berlin. At the school, he studied under German illustrator and designer, Bruno Paul, and Czech painter and lithographer, Emil Orlik, from the years 1910 to 1914.

When WWI cast a shadow over Europe, von Neumann served on the German infantry. After the war, he taught in Berlin and moved to the United States in 1926. He settled in Milwaukee and began working on the art staff of the Milwaukee Journal and as a lithographer. From 1929 to 1930, he taught at the Layton School of Art and from 1930 to 1959, he was a faculty member of the Wisconsin State Teachers College.

In 1933, von Neumann became a naturalized citizen and moved to Gloucester, Massachusetts to study under Hans Hoffman at the Earnest Thurm School of Art.