TREIMAN, untitled miniature, 1989

Joyce Wahl Treiman (American 1922-1991)

Born to René and Rose Wahl in Evanston, Illinois, her parents recognized her creative talent early and enrolled her into a children’s art class. After a single class, the instructor referred Joyce to an adult class. In the opening sentence of her autobiographical essay she states: “I started drawing at age eight and knew then that what I really wanted was to make art. There was never any doubt although doubts happened along the way.”

She attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and then studied at the State University of Iowa (today the University of Iowa) under the influential painter Philip Guston.

In 1945 she married Kenneth Treiman, and son Donald, now an Architect, was born in 1950. The Treiman’s, along with Rene and Rose Wahl, moved to Los Angeles in 1960.

In 1983 Treiman was diagnosed with lung cancer. In this same year she had a very productive run and painted what are considered some of her greatest works, including Thanatopsis, Hercules and the Arcadian Stag, and The Parting.She made a full recovery from the cancer, and was productive until her death from a heart attack in June 1991. Treiman’s work is in the collection of numerous nationally recognized museums, including the Whitney in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.