Jacques Schnier


Jacques Schnier was an Romanian-born American artist and engineer.

Early life and education

Schnier was born in Romania, and moved to the United States with his family in 1903. Schnier was raised in San Francisco. He received his A.B in engineering from Stanford University in 1920.

Career

After receiving his engineering degree, he worked as an engineer in Hawaii until 1923. Schnier then left engineering and earned an M.A. degree in Sociology from University of California, Berkeley. During this time, he also started taking architecture classes. He then began pursuing an art career, and also served as a professor at Berkeley for over 30 years. He became known for modernist sculptures and mural painting.
In 1936, Schnier was commissioned by the United States Mint to design the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge half-dollar, a commemorative coin that honored the opening of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.
Schnier had solo art shows at the Stanford University Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Seattle, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, Gallaudet University, James Willis Tribal Art, and the Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts. His works were also displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, Portland Art Museum, Crocker Art Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Jacques' works are a part of public collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Legion of Honor, Oakland Museum of California, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Crocker Art Museum, and Stanford University Museum of Art.

Personal life

Schnier died in Walnut Creek, California on March 8, 1988, at the age of 89.