Charles Biederman

Charles Biederman, born Karel Joseph Biederman, was an American abstract artist who lived in Chicago, New York City, and Paris before settling in Red Wing, Minnesota. Born in Cleveland in 1906 to Czech immigrant parents, Biederman studied at the Cleveland Art Institute before enrolling at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. At SAIC, Biederman received the prestigious Paul Trebeilcock Prize. Despite this, he dropped out of school in 1929 due to ideological differences with the faculty. In 1934, Biederman moved to New York City. In March 1936, he was included in the show "Five Contemporary American Concretionists" at Paul Reinhardt Gallery in New York. The show also featured Alexander Calder, John Ferren, George L.K. Morris, and Charles Green Shaw. Together with a concurrent solo exhibition at Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York, the exhibition helped establish Biederman's reputation as an important modern artist. Despite a growing recognition of his work, Biederman also gained a reputation for being arrogant, which would affect his relationships with curators and other artists. Biederman spent nine months in Paris from October 1936 through the middle of 1937.