Artist

Thea Tewi

born Berlin, Germany 1915
Also known as
  • Thea Wittner
Born
Berlin, Germany
Active in
  • Forest Hills, New York, United States
Nationalities
  • American
Biography

Thea Tewi became interested in sculpture while in high school in Germany and later enrolled at the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts. After graduation, she came to the United States and studied at the Art Students League in New York City. Tewi started out working in metal, experimenting with what she described as “free forms,” but soon switched to carving abstract sculptures from stone. She studied with the sculptor Seymour Lipton in New York, who encouraged her to create forms based on her “impressions” rather than her observations of an object. Tewi divides her time between Maryland, New York, and Italy, creating smooth, abstract forms from marble and onyx. (Alexis, “Thea Tewi,” Art Voices/South, November/December 1980)