Susan Unterberg

Unterberg was born in 1941 in New York City, New York, USA. In an interview, Unterberg stated that, during her childhood, she hadn't been "encouraged to become an artist or generally to have career ambitions, [...] It was a time when women got their names in the paper when they got married or died." Despite this, Unterberg pursued her art education when her two daughters were "school-aged."{{Cite news|url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/susan-unterberg-on-anonymous-was-a-woman-1322450|title='The Reaction Has Been Overwhelming': Susan Unterberg Comes Forward as a Major Anonymous Patron of Female Artists|last=Cascone|first=Sarah|date=2018-07-25|work=artnet News|access-date=2018-07-27|language=en-US}} She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1977 and received a Master of Arts from New York University in 1985.

Unterberg has received various fellowships, including from the New York Foundation for the Arts in 1992 and the MacDowell Colony in 1995. In 1996, she was named a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome.{{Cite web|url=http://www.susanunterberg.net/resume.php|title=susan unterberg {{!}} photographer|website=www.susanunterberg.net|language=en|access-date=2018-07-27}}

Once a guest artist at the artist colony Yaddo, Unterberg was named as its co-chairwoman with A. M. Homes in 2013. She credited Yaddo as a place where she had worked and grown as an artist.{{Cite news|url=http://www.saratogian.com/article/ST/20130909/NEWS/309099983|title=Yaddo board elects two artists to share chairmanship|date=2013-09-09|work=Saratogian News|access-date=2018-07-27|language=en}}

As of 2018, Unterberg lives in New York City.

Unterberg usually separates her work by subject into discrete series.{{Cite web|url=https://www.contemporaryartscenter.org/exhibitions/2004/11/susan-unterberg|title=Susan Unterberg – Contemporary Arts Center|date=2004-11-19|website=www.contemporaryartscenter.org|access-date=2018-07-27}} Her earlier work includes emotional portraits of familial relationships that explore the psychological bonds and connections between family members, while her later work consists of more abstract landscapes and portraits of animals which emphasize light, color, and metaphor. Unterberg is known for her diptych studies Mothers and Daughters{{cite book|author=Jo Anna Isaak|title=Feminism and Contemporary Art: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Laughter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNTGBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA147|date=11 September 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1-134-89526-7|pages=147–}} and Fathers and Sons, which photographically explore family relationships.{{cite book|author1=Robert A. Sobieszek|author2=Deborah Irmas|title=The Camera I: Photographic Self-Portraits from the Audrey and Sydney Irmas Collection|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CptTAAAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=Los Angeles County Museum of Art|isbn=9780810931978}}{{cite book|author=George Cruger|title=Portrait: Faces of the '80s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VppNAAAAYAAJ|year=1987|publisher=Virginia Museum of Fine Arts}}

As of 2018, Unterberg's projects involve layering photographic work in Adobe Photoshop, which she describes as "self-portraits that deal with the [current American] political situation."

Unterberg's photographic work has been exhibited at the New Museum of Contemporary Art,{{cite web|url=http://ca.newmuseum.org/index.php/Detail/Entity/Show/entity_id/1959?facet=year_facet|title=New Museum – Digital Archive|website=ca.newmuseum.org}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/11/arts/photographs-of-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow.html|title=PHOTOGRAPHS OF YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW|first=Andy|last=Grundberg}} the International Center of Photography, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum, New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.{{cite web|url=https://www.contemporaryartscenter.org/exhibitions/2004/11/susan-unterberg|title=Susan Unterberg – Contemporary Arts Center|website=www.contemporaryartscenter.org}}

Unterberg's work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York,{{cite web |url=https://www.moma.org/artists/8245?locale=en |title=Susan Unterberg – MoMA|website=www.moma.org}} the Metropolitan Museum of Art,{{cite web |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/282513 |title=DoubleTake #6 |website=Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date=28 July 2021}} the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,{{cite web |url=https://collections.lacma.org/node/194282 |title=Self-Portrait – LACMA Collections|website=collections.lacma.org}} the Jewish Museum, New York,{{cite web |url=https://thejewishmuseum.org/collection/artist/susan-unterberg-american-b-1941|title=The Jewish Museum|website=thejewishmuseum.org}} and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.{{Cite web |url=http://art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/12200/selfportrait-thinking-about-my-mother;jsessionid=E85D0F4E59101FFE9407B6BDE09B1439?ctx=c45038b2-ce2f-4bcc-b465-2cabf29e3771&idx=0 |title=Self-Portrait, Thinking About My Mother – Works – Susan Unterberg – Artists/Makers – The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art |website=art.nelson-atkins.org |language=en |access-date=2018-07-22}}

In July 2018, Unterberg revealed herself as the founder and sole funder of the Anonymous Was A Woman Award. Between 1996 and 2024, more than 300 underrecognized female artists over the age of 40{{cite web|url=https://www.wmagazine.com/story/susan-unterberg-anonymous-was-a-woman-donations|title=Woman Anonymously Donated Millions To Female Artists Over 40 For Decades|last=Logan|first=Elizabeth|website=W Magazine}} won the award, with grants totally more than $6.5 million dollars. This award is "an unrestricted grant of $25,000 awarded each year to ten women artists" who have reached a critical point in their careers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.anonymouswasawoman.org/|title=Home|website=Anonymous Was A Woman|language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-27}}

Before 2018, she had remained anonymous so that her artwork would be evaluated in its own context, without being influenced by her contributions. In an interview, she described her reasons for coming forward, stating "It’s a great time for women to speak up. I feel I can be a better advocate having my own voice," and that she can now work openly to further the organization's cause and to encourage philanthropists and women artists. On top of the grant award program, Unterberg is considering other forms of programs, possibly seminars, to add balance to the organization.

In 2025, the Grey Art Museum at New York University celebrated the award with their exhibition, Anonymous Was A Woman: The First 25 Years{{Cite news |date=2022-11-03 |title=Anonymous Was a Woman: The First 25 Years April 1, 2025–July 19, 2025 |url=https://greyartmuseum.nyu.edu/exhibition/anonymous-was-a-woman-the-first-25-years/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241205044701/https://greyartmuseum.nyu.edu/exhibition/anonymous-was-a-woman-the-first-25-years/ |archive-date=2024-12-05 |access-date=2025-04-06 |work=Grey Art Museum |language=en-US}}, featuring works by some of the recipients from 1996-2020. A related publication, Anonymous Was A Woman: The First 25 Years{{Cite book |last=Unterberg |first=Susan |title=Anonymous was a woman: the first 25 years |last2=Oliver |first2=Valerie Cassel |last3=Schwartz |first3=Alexandra |last4=Fajardo-Hill |first4=Cecilia |last5=Sorkin |first5=Jenni |last6=Collins-Fernandez |first6=Gaby |date=2025 |publisher=Hirmer |others=Grey Art Museum |isbn=978-3-7774-4318-8 |editor-last=Gumpert |editor-first=Lynn |location=Munich |editor-last2=Princenthal |editor-first2=Nancy |editor-last3=Sretenović |editor-first3=Vesela}}, featuing works by all the recipients from 1996-2020, was published on January 1, 2025, by the Grey Art Museum and Hirmer Verlag.

• {{Cite book| publisher = Houghton House Gallery, Hobart and William Smith Colleges?| last1 = Berg| first1 = Niki| last2 = Mackenzie| first2 = Elizabeth| last3 = Isaak| first3 = Jo Anna| last4 = Gurney| first4 = Janice| last5 = Unterberg| first5 = Susan| title = Mothers of invention: Niki Berg, Janice Gurney, Elizabeth Mackenzie, Mary Scott, May Stevens, Susan Unterberg| location = Geneva, N.Y.?| date = 1989}}
• {{Cite book| publisher = Contemporary Arts Center| isbn = 978-0-917562-76-1| last1 = Bober| first1 = Andrée| last2 = Unterberg| first2 = Susan| last3 = Ellegood| first3 = Anne| last4 = Isaak| first4 = Jo Anna| last5 = Contemporary Arts Center (Cincinnati| first5 = Ohio)| last6 = Chrysler Museum| title = Susan Unterberg: a retrospective| location = Cincinnati| date = 2004}}
• {{Cite book| publisher = Meredith Books| isbn = 978-0-696-21390-8| last = Collins| first = Connie| title = 50 celebrate 50: fifty extraordinary women talk about facing, turning, and being fifty| location = Des Moines, Iowa| date = 2002| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/50celebrate50fif00coll}}
• {{Cite book| publisher = Virginia Museum of Fine Arts| last1 = Cruger| first1 = George| last2 = Virginia Museum of Fine Arts| title = Portrait: faces of the '80s| location = Richmond| access-date = 2018-07-23| date = 1987| url = http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/17257234.html}}
• {{Cite book| publisher = New Museum of Contemporary Art| last1 = Faust| first1 = Daniel| last2 = Tucker| first2 = Marcia| last3 = New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York| first3 = N.Y.)| title = Past, present, future| location = New York| date = 1986}}
• {{Cite book| publisher = Hobart and William Smith Colleges Press| isbn = 978-0-910969-02-4| last1 = Isaak| first1 = Jo Anna| last2 = Silverthorne| first2 = Jeanne| last3 = Tucker| first3 = Marcia| last4 = Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery| title = Laughter ten years after| location = Geneva, N.Y.| date = 1995}}
• {{Cite book| publisher = Hobart and William Smith Colleges Press| isbn = 978-0-934888-18-9| last1 = Isaak| first1 = Jo Anna| last2 = Western Gallery (Western Washington University)| title = H₂0| location = Geneva, N.Y.| date = 2002}}
• {{Cite book| publisher = New Museum of Contemporary Art| isbn = 978-0-915557-83-7| last1 = Tucker| first1 = Marcia| last2 = Ellegood| first2 = Anne| last3 = New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York| first3 = N.Y.)| title = The time of our lives: exhibition| location = New York| date = 1999}}
• {{Cite book| publisher = Metropolitan Museum of Art| last1 = Unterberg| first1 = Susan| last2 = Cole| first2 = Henri| title = Double takes| location = New York| date = 1999}}
• {{Cite book| last = Unterberg| first = Susan| title = Portrait of Nicholas Hasluck| date = 1993}}
• {{Cite book| publisher = Yancey Richardson Gallery| last1 = Unterberg| first1 = Susan| last2 = Parry| first2 = Eugenia| last3 = Yancey Richardson Gallery| title = Susan Unterberg: water dreams.| location = New York| date = 1998}}
• {{Cite book| publisher = Robert Klein Gallery| last1 = Unterberg| first1 = Susan| last2 = Schaffner| first2 = Ingrid| last3 = Dee| first3 = D. James| last4 = Robert Klein Gallery| title = Susan Unterberg: white horse.| location = Boston, MA| date = 2000}}
• {{Cite journal| issn = 0743-3204| issue = 14| pages = 48–49| title = Susan Unterberg| journal = Bomb BOMB| date = 1986}}

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