Born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1899, Eugene Berman was a painter, illustrator, theatrical designer, printmaker, and sculptor. Money from his stepfather, a well-to-do banker, allowed him to study throughout Europe. After the outbreak of the Bolshevik Revolution, Berman and his family fled St. Petersburg for Paris. In Paris, Berman studied Eduard Vuillard, Maurice Denis, and Felix Valloton, all of whom had been influential painters in the group known as Les Nabis, at the end of the 19th century. Berman also became a friend of Pablo Picasso, nearly a generation his senior, whose "blue period" work influenced Berman's own. In the interwar period, Berman and his brother Leonid, also a painter, exhibited at the Galerie Pierre in Paris, where their work--along with that of painters such as Pavel Tchelitchev and Christian Berard--earned the sobriquet neo-Romantic because of certain melancholy and introspective qualities. In 1935, Berman emigrated to the United States, becoming a citizen in 1944. He settled in Hollywood and married the actress Ona Munson--they were married in the Hollywood home of another Russian emigre, the composer Igor Stravinsky, who was part of Berman's large artistic circle of friends and admirers. In the USA he became particularly known for his designs for productions of opera and ballet, designing five acclaimed productions for the Metropolitan Opera between 1951 and 1962. He designed and exhibited internationally; and he and his wife retired to Rome in 1957, living there until his death in 1972. To quote his extensive obituary in The New York Times: “Fantastic interpretations of the visible universe” was one description Mr. Berman himself gave to both his melancholy canvases and the evocative sets that delighted critics and patrons alike. [Dec. 15, 1972] The Museum of Modern Art in New York City has a significant collection of his work, and his work has been featured in more than thirty exhibitions at the museum. His work is in other public and private collections worldwide.