Henriette Simon Picker

Henriette Simon "H. S." Picker (28 March 1917 – 5 January 2016) was an American painter, fashion designer, and inventor.[1][2][3]

H. S. Picker
Picker in 2012
Born
Henriette Simon Picker

(1917-03-28)28 March 1917
Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
Died5 January 2016(2016-01-05) (aged 98)
Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.
EducationArt Students League of New York
ChildrenIda Picker, Jon Picker, Tobias Picker

Biography
Andy Warhol illustration of Picker's shoe design in McCall's
Picker's patent illustration for the "Tubular Stripping Shoe"

Henriette Simon Picker was born on March 28th, 1917, to German-Jewish émigrés in Jersey City, New Jersey.[4] In 1928, after a failed business venture, her father, William, moved his family to Berlin. There Picker graduated from the Paul-Natorp-Gymasium and later attended the Lette-Verein. After fleeing Germany following the rise of Hitler, the family resettled in New York, where Picker studied drawing and painting with Alexander Brook and Louis Bouché at the Art Students League of New York while pursuing a career as a shoe designer. At the age of sixteen, she became the first woman designer hired by I. Miller, a shoe company. In 1952 Picker opened her own business called "Simone Shoes To Match" with her brother Regi Simon, designing and manufacturing shoes for women to match their handbags and dresses. In the October 1952 issue of MaCall’s, her shoes were illustrated by a then 24 year old Andy Warhol.[3] In the 1960's she formed one of the first shoe import businesses in the US, and designed her own line, “Simone Shoes, Made in Italy.”[4] In 1982, Picker retired from shoe design to care for her then-ailing husband, Julian Picker. Soon thereafter, in 1983, Picker was commissioned to create the cover for the January 1983 issue of Footwear News.[4] Over the course of her career, Picker patented numerous shoe designs.[5]

Picker produced the bulk of her paintings in her nineties.[4] Her first solo exhibition was at the age of 95 at The Hudson River Studio in 2012, and shortly after was the subject of a retrospective exhibition at PMW Gallery in March 2013.[6] She subsequently had solo exhibitions at The Cooperstown Art Association and View Arts in Old Forge, NY.[7] She also exhibited at the Waxlander Gallery in Santa Fe and the Carter Burden Gallery in Chelsea.[8][9] Picker's final years were almost entirely focused upon portraiture, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mikael Karlsson (composer), Richard Croft (tenor), Ida Rohatyn, and Charles Wuorinen. A book chronicling her work entitled Henriette Simon Picker: A Century of Painting was published posthumously.[10][7]

In 1940, she married Julian Picker who was a newswriter for CBS TV. They had three children, Ida Picker,[11] Jon Picker, and Tobias Picker.[12]

References
  1. Journal staff (11 April 2017). "Henriette Simon Picker Museum of Art opens in Poughkeepsie". Poughkeepsie Journal. USA Today. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  2. Christina Hennessy (3 March 2013). "Art of a lifetime: Exhibitions celebrate the past while offering a hint of the future". Connecticut Post. Connecticut Post. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  3. M., Kathryn (7 April 2020). "A Midcentury Retreat by Architect and Usonia Founder Aaron Resnick Lists for $999K". Dwell Magazine. ... the painter Henriette Simon Picker lived in the home until her death in 2016 at the age of 99. Simon Picker built a career as an accomplished shoe designer in New York City, at one point having her designs illustrated by a young Andy Warhol for fashion magazines.
  4. "Henriette Simon Picker". www.HSPicker.com. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  5. "Inventor Henriette Simon". Google Patents. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  6. View Staff (21 June 2014). "H.S. PICKER AT 97". View Arts Center. View Arts Center. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  7. Carter Burden Gallery Staff. "Representational Group Exhibition". Carter Burden Gallery. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  8. "Events in Connecticut". NYTimes.com. The New York Times. 5 April 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  9. Tobias Picker (2019). Henriette Simon Picker: A Century of Painting. Independent. ISBN 978-1365877933.
  10. Picker, Ida. "About". idapicker.com. ...also studying painting with her mother, the artist Henriette Simon Picker
  11. "Shoo-in for success: Simon Picker Museum of Art opens in Poughkeepsie". Poughkeepsie Journal. 12 April 2017. pp. A5. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
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