Lecian Von Bernuth

Little is known of Lecian Von Bernuth's (1895-1990) career as a printmaker, although she was known for creating beautiful ceramics in her home studio. However, her love of animals and the reminiscences of her richly imaginative life are preserved in an 1980 oral-history recording by the Memorial Library of Radnor Township. In Miss Lecian Von Bernuth, she recounts growing up in Wayne, Pennsylvania, among goats, a blind racehorse, a 40-year-old parrot, and a squirrel named Nutkin.

Against this backdrop, her singular work in our inventory, Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain (1942), shines as an expression of her skill at creating rich, atmospheric drama. Though biographical details remain scarce, the artwork gains emotional depth when considered alongside her vivid personal history.