Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Illinois (1914-2008) abstract watercolor on paper Signed lower left, inscribed to Richard Florsheim verso. Biography from NYTimes.com: Muriel Kallis was born on Feb. 25, 1914, the only child of Maurice and Ada Nudelman Kallis. Her father was an engineer. As a child she studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; she later took art courses at the University of Chicago. Mrs. Newman did not turn her back on her hometown; according to The Chicago Tribune, she donated more than 170 works to the School of the Art Institute. Speaking of her kinship with the great Abstract Expressionists, she told The Times in 1980, “I knew them well and loved their work.” She added: “At first I began to hang my own things next to them, but I soon realized I wasn’t making much of a statement. I really am not at heart a collector. I’m a failed artist; there’s no other way to describe it.” 15 5/8"H x 10 7/8"W