Leonardo Nierman Large Scale Abstract Tapestry, circa 1965

Leonardo Nierman is a Mexican abstract artist. His varied paintings and sculptures are inspired by both nature and classical musicians like Johann Sebastian Bach and Claude Debussy, as well as an array of artists that includes David Alfaro Siqueiros, Wassily Kandinsky, and Joan Miró. Nierman’s paintings utilize bright colors and evoke elemental natural events like volcanic eruptions, storms, and waterfalls. In the same vein, his sculptures often depict abstracted sublime representations of angelic figures and flames. Born on November 1, 1932 in Mexico City, Mexico to Lithuanian and Ukrainian parents, Nierman studied the violin from a very young age before receiving a BA in business administration from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Today, the artist’s works are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Detroit Institute of the Arts, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art, among others. Nierman lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico.