Richard Lindner was born in
Hamburg, Germany. His mother Mina Lindner was American and born in New York as the daughter of German parents. In 1905, the family moved to
Nuremberg, where Lindner's mother was owner of a custom-fitting corset business and Richard Lindner grew up and studied at the
Kunstgewerbeschule (Arts and Crafts School), now the
Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg. From 1924 to 1927, he lived in
Munich and began studies there at the
Kunstakademie in 1925. In 1927, Lindner moved to
Berlin and stayed there until 1928, when he returned to Munich to become art director of a publishing firm. He remained in Munich until 1933, when he was forced to flee to
Paris. Once in Paris, Lindner became politically engaged, sought contact with French artists, and earned his living as a
commercial artist. He was interned when
World War II broke out in 1939 and later served in the
French Army. In 1941, Lindner moved to the
United States and worked in
New York City as an
illustrator of books and magazines. There he made contact with New York artists and German emigrants such as
Albert Einstein,
Marlene Dietrich, and
Saul Steinberg. In 1948, Lindner became an American citizen. In 1952, Lindner started teaching at the
Pratt Institute,
Brooklyn. In 1957, Lindner received the William and Norma Copley Foundation Award. In 1965, he became a guest professor at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in
Hamburg, Germany. His paintings at this time used the sexual symbolism of advertising and investigated definitions of
gender roles in the media. In 1967, Lindner moved to
Yale University School of Art and Architecture,
New Haven. Richard Lindner died in 1978. He was buried at
Westchester Hills Cemetery in
Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. == Art ==