Lillian Schwartz, a revolutionary figure in the art world and one of the first artists to integrate computers into film-making, passed away at the age of 97 at her Manhattan home on Saturday. Her son, Laurens Schwartz, confirmed the news.
Schwartz is widely remembered for her role in merging the fields of art, science, and technology, most notably during the 1970s. Her work opened up new possibilities for how creative expression could evolve in the digital age, making her a key figure in both the art and tech communities.
Early Life and Exploration of Art
Born Lillian Feldman on July 13, 1927, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Schwartz grew up in a creative household. Her father, Jacob, was a barber who had immigrated from Russia, while her mother, Katie, came from Liverpool, England. Schwartz often reflected on how her parents’ distinctive accents – her father’s thick Russian inflection and her mother’s British tones – contributed to her unique upbringing. She fondly recalled her mother’s voice, which she likened to “speaking like the Beatles,” in a 2013 interview with the Computer History Museum.
From an early age, Schwartz demonstrated an innate talent for art. Her older brother, who attended art school, helped guide her through various mediums such as oil paints, pastels, and charcoal. Her early works were made using whatever materials were available, including old clothes discarded by her siblings. This resourcefulness would later characterize much of her career, as she became known for her ability to blend and layer disparate materials in her work.
However, her path to a career in art wasn’t straightforward. After high school, she joined the Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II to pay for college and attended the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and Health. Despite her initial commitment to nursing, it quickly became clear that her true passion lay elsewhere. “I was a terrible nurse,” she once said in a 1975 interview with The New York Times. “I fainted at the sight of blood. The only thing I was any good at was sketching on the casts of children in the hospital.”
Her brief stint in nursing, however, brought her into contact with James Schwartz, a medical intern at Cincinnati General Hospital. The couple married in 1946, beginning a lifelong partnership. James, known as Jack, studied medicine through a government program and was stationed in Japan in the late 1940s. Lillian and their first son, Jeffrey, followed him there in 1949.
Health Struggles and Early Influences
Tragedy struck soon after the family’s arrival in Japan, when Lillian contracted polio. The disease left her paralyzed from the waist down and severely impacted her right arm. Although she regained some of her mobility and was able to walk again, the illness had lasting effects. Throughout her life, she reflected on how polio had permanently altered her physical capabilities. She also believed that her family was exposed to residual radiation from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which had ongoing health impacts.
Despite these hardships, her time in Japan proved to be formative. The experience of living in a country still reeling from the aftermath of World War II broadened her perspective on art, culture, and history. Her exposure to traditional Japanese art and her time spent observing the post-war environment sparked a creative energy that would fuel much of her later work. After recovering from polio, she returned to the United States and settled in St. Louis, where she dove headfirst into the world of art, taking classes in sculpture, painting, and other mediums.
A Constant Search for New Artistic Mediums
Schwartz’s work was defined by her constant experimentation and a restless desire to push the boundaries of what was possible in art. She began working with watercolors and acrylics, often layering different materials on top of each other, incorporating sand, plastics, and other unlikely objects into her paintings. As she evolved as an artist, her curiosity extended beyond traditional materials.
Her early career was marked by an exploration of kinetic sculptures — motorized art pieces that moved and interacted with their environment. Schwartz’s sculptures were a radical departure from her earlier work with paint and canvas, incorporating objects she found in everyday life. She often referred to herself as a “garbage collector,” using discarded items like tubing from plastic factories or even fish tank motors to create her dynamic pieces. One of her most notable works from this period was Proxima Centauri, a kinetic sculpture made from streetlamp domes and a sewing machine motor that once belonged to her mother. This piece was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in the 1968 exhibition The Machine as Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age, curated by Pontus Hulten.
It was at the opening of this exhibition that Schwartz met two individuals who would change the course of her artistic career: Leon Harmon and Ken Knowlton, both of Bell Labs. Harmon and Knowlton were pioneers in the emerging field of computer-generated imagery, having created a computer-generated nude for the MoMA show. Impressed by Schwartz’s kinetic sculptures, they invited her to visit Bell Labs in New Jersey. This marked the beginning of Schwartz’s decades-long relationship with the famed research institution.
A Pioneer in Computer Art
Schwartz’s introduction to Bell Labs in the late 1960s was a pivotal moment, setting the stage for her groundbreaking work in computer-generated art. At the time, few artists were exploring the potential of computers, and even fewer were being taken seriously by the scientific community. But Bell Labs, known for its innovative approach to research and collaboration, provided Schwartz with the resources and expertise to experiment with this new medium.
Her first major foray into computer art came in 1970 with the creation of Pixillation, a short, four-minute film that combined computer-generated images with traditional art techniques. The process of creating Pixillation was laborious and technically complex. Schwartz used an IBM 7094 mainframe computer, feeding it punch cards to generate 85 black-and-white frames. These frames were then transferred to magnetic tape, which she reproduced on film using a microfilm recorder. To enhance the visuals, she layered in other elements such as color filters, hand-drawn images, and footage of paint being poured onto glass.
At a time when computers had not yet been equipped with the user-friendly interfaces we now take for granted, Schwartz had to master complex technical processes. In her book The Computer Artist’s Handbook (1992), co-authored with her son Laurens, Schwartz wrote about the challenges of working with early machines. “I had to push the early machine and cajole scientists to make the computer an art tool,” she recalled. “Initially, I was satisfied when I pushed the machine into serving as a brush, an ink block, and oil paint. But the machine had to keep pace with me — just as I learned that I had to grow with the machine as its scientifically oriented powers evolved.”
The “Mona Leo” Theory
One of Schwartz’s most controversial contributions to the art world came in 1986 when she published an article in Arts & Antiques magazine claiming that Leonardo da Vinci had used himself as the model for his iconic painting, Mona Lisa. Using digital forensics, Schwartz superimposed an image of the Mona Lisa with a self-portrait of da Vinci, finding that the two faces aligned almost perfectly. This idea, later dubbed the “Mona Leo” theory, sparked widespread debate among art historians and the public.
Although most scholars dismissed the theory, arguing that there was no concrete evidence to support it, the idea captured the public’s imagination. “Within hours it became elevator chat and cocktail party conversation,” reported The New York Times. The theory drew large crowds to the Louvre in Paris, where people clamored to see the famous painting in light of this new, provocative interpretation. While many critics rejected the “Mona Leo” theory as speculative, it demonstrated Schwartz’s innovative approach to both art and technology, using digital tools to ask new questions about old masterpieces.
Breaking Down Barriers Between Art, Science, and Technology
Lillian Schwartz’s body of work is often credited with breaking down the barriers that once existed between the worlds of art, science, and technology. In the 1960s and 70s, these fields were largely seen as separate domains, each with its own tools, methodologies, and goals. Scientists were often skeptical of the value of artistic endeavors, while artists feared that the growing reliance on technology would undermine the human element of their work. Schwartz, through her collaborations with engineers and scientists, helped show that these fields could be mutually enriching.
Kristen Gallerneaux, the curator of communications and information technology at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, which houses Schwartz’s archives, spoke of her lasting influence. “There really was a time where people tried to keep those fields of art, science, and technology separate and on their own,” Gallerneaux explained. “I think one of Lillian’s main contributions was that she showed different ways that you could bridge those three things.”
Legacy and Recognition
Despite her groundbreaking work, Schwartz’s contributions to the art world did not receive widespread recognition until much later in her life. Her films were shown at major venues, including the Cannes Film Festival, MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. However, it wasn’t until 2016, when she was 89, that Schwartz had her first solo gallery show in New York at Magenta Plains on the Lower East Side.
In her review of the exhibition, critic Hannah Stamler of Artforum praised Schwartz’s pioneering work, writing that the show reinforced “just how groundbreaking the artist’s oeuvre was.” Stamler described Schwartz’s ability to blend digital imagery with traditional art techniques as “mesmerizing,” emphasizing her role as a true pioneer in the field of digital art.
In addition to her son Laurens, Schwartz is survived by her other son, Jeffrey. Her work continues to inspire a new generation of artists and technologists, demonstrating the limitless possibilities that exist at the intersection of creativity and technology. Schwartz’s vision of an art world where boundaries are fluid, and innovation is encouraged remains more relevant than ever in the digital age. Her contributions to both art and technology will undoubtedly influence future generations of creators who seek to push the boundaries of what is possible.
