I'm saddened to say my beloved Mom passed away . . .

“Newsday” newspaper, Long Island, New York, & Legacy.com, 9/10/2022

Henrietta Gersten-Liebowitz (professionally known as Hedy O’Beil) passed away in her sleep Tuesday, September 6, 2022, at age 93 on Long Island, New York.?She was comforted by her dear family in her last days. She was born in New York City on October 20, 1928.?She will be remembered as a kind, loving and caring Mom and Grandma, and an accomplished artist with exceptional talent.?She was beautiful and graceful with a sense of humor!??

????Henrietta (Hedy) was a well-known abstract artist painter in New York City.?Her love and driven compassion toward painting was impressive, having painted for over 80 years with creative devotion.?She was known for being a second generation Abstract Expressionist artist.?She was recognized many times as being excellent and unique in her field.?She received two prestigious awards from the Jackson Pollock – Lee Krasner International Foundation for her paintings, in 2009 and again in 2014.?They recognize about 100 artists from around the world, each year.?Hedy had over 70 solo and group art exhibits during her career, including exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Philadelphia Art Museum, the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, L.I., the Susquehanna Art Museum in Harrisburg, Pa., Guild Hall in East Hampton, L.I., the Carter Burden Gallery in NYC, Gallery 307 in NYC, the Westbeth Gallery in NYC, the Pleiades Gallery in NYC, and the Landmark Gallery in NYC.?She also worked for many years as an art museum tour guide, especially for the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, enlightening countless groups from New Jersey.?In addition, she was an art reviewer for several arts magazines, reviewing many art exhibits, mostly in the New York metropolitan area.??

????She never stopped educating herself.?She studied at several highly regarded art schools, including the Brooklyn Museum Art School, with Reuben Tam, the Westbury Art School in NY, with Harry Sternberg, the Skowhegan School of Art, in Maine, the Art Students League in NY, with Ernest Fiene and Harry Sternberg, and the Traphagen School of Art in NYC, and received her Master’s degree from Goddard College in Montpelier, Vermont.??She was so motivated and productive, and continued painting and reading until she was 90 years old, where she lived independently at her Westbeth Artists Apartment (downstairs is their well-known art gallery), in New York City for over 20 years.?She was a true “New Yorker!”?

????She began painting when she was 5 years old with her only brother, Gerry Gersten, a famous illustrator / caricaturist who had published his drawings in many books, the New York Times, Mad Magazine and Rolling Stone magazine, among others, who had passed away a few years ago at age 91.?

????Her “art name,” Hedy O’Beil, was a combination of Hedy Lamar and Georgia O’Keefe.?(Also, O’Beil was her last name, Liebo spelled backwards.)?Her painting was influenced by artists such as Willem De Kooning, Patrick Henry Bruce, Mark Rothko, Philip Guston, Franz Kline, & Jackson Pollack.??

????She is survived by her sons, Seth Jay Liebowitz (wife, Xiaobo LaPresta) and Josh Ethan Liebowitz (wife, Gwen Liebowitz) and their children, Jason Liebowitz, Jared Liebowitz (wife Lindsay Hammon); Liann Liebowitz, Cara Liebowitz; and Mae?(husband Ryan Rowland).?She was married to Jerome Liebowitz for over 20 years.?

????We want to thank her for the many beautiful and creative paintings she contributed and left to inspire many people with her shapes and colors, enlarging their artistic imagination and horizon.?She will be forever missed and remembered by her family, friends and art fans!?What a blessing that her legacy will continue, and more people will see her art work for generations to come.?Her next solo painting show is scheduled at the Hoyt Art Center in New Castle, Pa., September - November 2023.?

?A memorial service celebrating Hedy’s life will be scheduled.

????In lieu of flowers, those wishing to make a donation in memory of Hedy O’Beil, to support and further her legacy, can make the check to: “Hedy O’Beil Art Education Foundation,” and mail it to:?P.O. Box 168, Wexford, Pa.?15090.

?e-mail address:[email protected]??? ??web-site:?www.hedyobeilart.com?

(In “Newsday” newspaper, Long Island, New York, & Legacy.com, 9/10/2022)

?P.S. If you would like to participate in the Zoom service on-line, let me know.