Lillian Feldman Schwartz

Lillian Feldman Schwartz was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1927. She married James Schwartz, a medical intern, and moved with him to postwar Japan in the late 1940s. While living there, she contracted polio, which left her partially paralyzed. She rebuilt her muscle control by practicing drawing with pen and ink. During her time near Hiroshima, she witnessed the devastation of the atomic bombing, an experience that left a profound impression on her and influenced her early artistic vision. She studied nursing at the University of Cincinnati before shifting her focus to art. In Japan, she trained in Chinese brushwork and later continued her studies in the United States, learning oils, sculpture, and printmaking from artists like Joe Jones and James Kearns.

Her work evolved constantly as she moved from watercolors and acrylics to kinetic sculptures and, eventually, to computer-generated art. Her kinetic sculpture Proxima Centauri was selected for the 1968 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. At that exhibit, she met Leon Harmon, a Bell Labs researcher specializing in visual perception. Harmon was impressed by her work and invited her to Bell Labs to experiment with computer graphics. At Bell Labs, Schwartz collaborated closely with scientists, engineers, and researchers, playing a key role in creating and developing early software and hardware tools that advanced computer-generated imagery. This opportunity launched her computer art career, where she used the IBM 7094 mainframe to pioneer new computer animation and film techniques. Her early films combined computer-generated patterns with hand-drawn animation, paint, and photographic elements, using newly developed tools to create complex visuals and editing methods. Her pioneering spirit led her to embrace emerging technologies like color filters, microfilm recorders, and interactive multimedia well before digital art gained recognition, helping shape the tools and processes that others later adopted.

Schwartz’s contributions extended beyond creating art. She developed methods for computer-aided art analysis and restoration, applying these to Renaissance paintings and architectural studies like Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. She wrote The Computer Artist’s Handbook and held positions at various academic institutions. Her teaching and mentorship helped integrate digital media into art education. She also used technology to study how artists create, developing computer-aided methods to analyze color, composition, and structure in classical and modern paintings. Working with databases of artworks by masters like Picasso and Matisse, she examined their creative choices to better understand the decision-making process behind their works.

Schwartz’s work has been shown at leading museums worldwide and is part of major collections including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She received numerous accolades throughout her career, including the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards and a Doctor of Humane Letters from Kean College. In 1985, she earned a New York Emmy Award for the computer-generated public service announcement Big MOMA. Her films Pixillation and U.F.O.s became seminal works in computer animation, exemplifying her layered approach combining technology with traditional media. Her legacy is that of a relentless experimenter who expanded the possibilities of technology in art and challenged how art and science intersect. She passed away on October 12, 2024, in New York City.