Eva Marie
When I went to Vienna, I met Eva Marie. We consider ourselves cousins, and it is about time I met this wonderful woman. Let me explain the relationship. She is the daughter of my mother's first husband's brother. Simple. Unless you try to think about it.
Eva Marie's father was Jewish, and they left Vienna to settle in Switzerland, however the Swiss would not let her father, Otto Kallir, open his art gallery there. So he tried again in Paris, but things got hot in Paris, and the family came to the US in 1939 when Eva Marie was 14. They did so because my mother and father pledged their farm as collateral in case the Kallir family became a drag on welfare budgets. That was not to be the case. After having had a successful Gallery in Vienna near St. Stephan's Cathedral, named Gallery St. Stephan, his gallery in Paris was called Gallery St. Etienne. When he finally opened his gallery in New York City, it was again called Gallerie St Etienne.
In Vienna, he had done a lot of work with Schielle and Klimt, and he brought some of their works, along with some Picasso's, to his gallery in New York City. Then he discovered and promoted an elderly artist from upstate New York (I think), who signed her paintings Grandma Moses. He did not do badly in the world of art. His grand daughter Jane Kallir still runs Gallerie St Etienne on 57th St.
Eva, who was brought up Catholic, returned to Austria. She started work with SOS Kinderdorf, a special home for Jewish War Orphans, and then for War Orphans in general. She went on to do social work with marginalized people, and actually started one of the early half way houses, or assisted living houses, for the mentally and emotionally, and perhaps life challenged people in Vienna. The house is still operating.
Eva is a wonderful, caring, and kind person. I sometimes wonder if people like her, if they hired a PR firm to give them a big boost, would get Peace Prizes, or Sainthoods. She really seems the type who deserves such.
Here is to you, cousin Eva Marie. I am not only glad to make your acquaintance, but I am proud to do so as well.
Eva Marie's father was Jewish, and they left Vienna to settle in Switzerland, however the Swiss would not let her father, Otto Kallir, open his art gallery there. So he tried again in Paris, but things got hot in Paris, and the family came to the US in 1939 when Eva Marie was 14. They did so because my mother and father pledged their farm as collateral in case the Kallir family became a drag on welfare budgets. That was not to be the case. After having had a successful Gallery in Vienna near St. Stephan's Cathedral, named Gallery St. Stephan, his gallery in Paris was called Gallery St. Etienne. When he finally opened his gallery in New York City, it was again called Gallerie St Etienne.
In Vienna, he had done a lot of work with Schielle and Klimt, and he brought some of their works, along with some Picasso's, to his gallery in New York City. Then he discovered and promoted an elderly artist from upstate New York (I think), who signed her paintings Grandma Moses. He did not do badly in the world of art. His grand daughter Jane Kallir still runs Gallerie St Etienne on 57th St.
Eva, who was brought up Catholic, returned to Austria. She started work with SOS Kinderdorf, a special home for Jewish War Orphans, and then for War Orphans in general. She went on to do social work with marginalized people, and actually started one of the early half way houses, or assisted living houses, for the mentally and emotionally, and perhaps life challenged people in Vienna. The house is still operating.
Eva is a wonderful, caring, and kind person. I sometimes wonder if people like her, if they hired a PR firm to give them a big boost, would get Peace Prizes, or Sainthoods. She really seems the type who deserves such.
Here is to you, cousin Eva Marie. I am not only glad to make your acquaintance, but I am proud to do so as well.
posted by Steve at 3:50 PM
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