Amherst, MARIUS SZNAJDERMAN, a painter and printmaker, loving husband, father and grandfather, passed away on Feb. 24, 2018. He was 91.

Marius was born in Paris, France in 1926. In 1942 he and his parents escaped from Nazi persecution into Spain and moved to Venezuela where he lived until 1949.  His early training as an artist was at the School of Fine Arts in Caracas. In 1948, he was a founding member of the Taller Libre de Arte, an influential workshop for the visual arts responsible for the introduction of contemporary trends in the Venezuelan art world.

In 1949, Marius moved to the U.S., where he studied at Columbia University and received Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees. He served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955 during the Korean Conflict.

In 1956 he married the love of his life, Suzanne Messing, a journalist. They moved to Hackensack, N.J., where they lived for more than 50 years and raised three children.

Marius worked as a scenic designer in New York at Circle in the Square Theater, the Felix Fibish Dance Company, the French Art Theater and Columbia Theater Associates, among other venues.

He taught art, art history and design at New York University, the School of Visual Arts, Fairleigh Dickinson University and the Ridgewood School of Art in New Jersey. He also taught art in New Jersey public schools under state and federal grants.

From 1974 to 1983, he directed Galeria Venezuela in New York City for the National Council of Culture and Fine Arts of Venezuela. The gallery was dedicated to the exhibition and promotion of prominent and rising Venezuelan artists.

In 1991, what was then known as The Museum of Contemporary Arts of Caracas Sofia Imber, Caracas, Venezuela gave him a major retrospective exhibit. Over the years, he had more than 30 one-person exhibits and numerous group shows in South America and the U.S. His work is in major public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, the Fine Arts Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Caracas, Venezuela, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Museo del Barrio, New York City, and the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton.

Marius is listed in Who’s Who in American Art, and in Printworld International, as well as many other publications.

In 2015 Marius and Suzanne settled at Applewood in Amherst to be closer to their daughter, Tobi. He continued to paint and create art until his final days. He was generous, kind and warm, and treasured his family and friends above all. 

Marius was predeceased by his parents, Charles and Jeanne Sznajderman, and a brother who died in infancy.

In addition to Tobi and her husband, Joel Harris, of Amherst, he leaves behind son Michael and his wife Elaine, son Marc and his wife Jeannette, and grandchildren Evan, Jesse, Lily, Hannah, Noah, Aimee and Rachel.

The family expresses its deep appreciation to the staff at Hospice of the Fisher Home, who lovingly cared for Marius before his death.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Marius can be made to Free Arts NYC, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Jewish Community of Amherst.

http://mariussznajderman.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marius_Sznajderman

Memorial register at www.douglassfuneral.com