Herman Gabriel
Herman Gabriel was born in Detroit, Michigan on June 28, 1894. He spent much of his lifetime in Detroit, though he traveled and exhibited his work in many parts of the country, including New York, Connecticut, Ohio, Indiana and Colorado. Many honors were bestowed upon him for both his art work and photography - including awards from the Michigan Artists Exhibition, The Hudson Galleries, Michigan State Fair, The Detroit News, and others. He was an artist, illustrator, teacher, lecturer, photographer and writer. His book, 'Composition Simplified', has had many printings since its original publication in 1935.

Gabriel achieved the distinction of "Best Landscape Artist in Michigan" in the late 1920s. He and his wife, Bea, moved to Colorado during World War II where he created mystical paintings attained through intuitive visions. Although the works were completed in the 1940s, he believed that their significance would not be understood until the end of the 20th century. At his request, Bea Gabriel did not exhibit them until 1998 in the exhibit 'New Body, Old Soul: A Meeting between Two Worlds,' at the Carey McDuff Gallery of Contemporary Art, 508 S. Bowie St., Amarillo, Texas, which featured works by Gabriel and Mardy Lemmons.

Bea Gabriel Remembers
(December, 1996, age 95)

I met Herman Gabriel one Sunday afternoon in 1923 when he and Carl Bartlett and Mildred Shoemaker were helping the Bramicks who had an artist's supply store on Woodward Avenue in Detroit. Herman and three or four other artists had studios in the building. I had just applied for a divorce from an alcoholic husband, and had moved back with my parents. I was in the market for a clerical job. Marj Bramick asked me if I would help them for a few weeks as they were getting out a book on Home or Fireside Art using gesso as a base. I accepted and started the next day.