Frans Bergmann

Franz Bergmann

American

(1898–1977)

Early in his career listed his name as Walter Bergman. After serving in the World War I, he enrolled in the Vienna National Academy of Art and graduated with honors in 1925. He then moved to the United States and lived in New York, Colorado, and Chicago before settling in San Francisco, California in 1929. 

Once settled in San Francisco, Bergmann painted murals for the new Dollar liners “President Hoover” and “President Coolidge” and the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. In 1939 he painted murals for the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco. Bergmann also taught at the California School of Fine Art and authored and illustrated books for juveniles including This Way to the Circus (1938) and San Francisco Flips (1946).

In 1952, Bergmann directed all his energies into his enamels and, by 1958, he was considered one of the leading enamel artists and was represented by a covered bowl in the exhibition Enamels, presented by the Museum of Contemporary Crafts.

Bergmann was a member of and exhibited with the San Francisco Art Association and the San Francisco Art Center. His work was also included in exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Corcoran Gallery, the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Santa Fe Museum of Art, and the California Pacific International Exposition in San Diego.

Bergmann was living in Sonoma County, California when he died on 19 January of 1977.