Shelter Island Reporter

Bernard Herman Gurevitz died on November 14, 2009 after a long illness. He was 88 years old.


He was born on April 25, 1921 and spent his first 18 years in Scranton, Pennsylvania as the youngest of four children, brothers Harry and Al and sister Gussie. By the time Bern went to high school, his passion for art was very apparent to his family and school teachers. 


With the help of his art teacher, he followed his dream and won a scholarship to the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. He was awarded the Louis Comfort Tiffany Fellowship in Painting and was the top artist in his graduating class. He served in World War II in the Army, then moved to New York City to follow a fine arts career, while attending the Art Students League and the Brooklyn Museum School of Art.


He married Florence Walker in 1948 and they had two children, Enid and Ted. Bern bought a small frame business, M. Toberoff & Co., which he ran for over 35 years while continuing to paint. Two of his most important frames have U.S. patents and are in major museums and galleries throughout the U.S., Canada and Japan. Several of his frames are in the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery and the White House. Bern was very successful with his own painting and had several one man shows in New York City, Long Island and Washington, D.C.; his paintings are in public and private collections across the U.S.


In 1961, he met Marnie Hutchinson and they were married two years later. They lived in New York but fell in love with Shelter Island on weekend visits. They purchased a small cottage on Congdon Road in 1972, which they named “Sparrow.” Bern added a studio overlooking Lily Pond. His son Ted writes that Bern and Marnie loved wildlife, gardening and their poodles. They also loved to entertain their friends and their home became a social hub for many of them.


At the time, his son wrote, August Mosca was the most famous artist on Shelter Island and when he and Bern Gurevitz met, they became the greatest of friends, constantly in and out of each other's studios and, one time, painting each other's portraits. 


One of his friends remembers Bern sitting on a hillside in Umbria with only a plastic chair to support his canvas (no easel) on a June morning and saying, “I could live and paint here forever.” He also painted on the Greek islands, resulting in a show of his shell collection, some of which can be seen in homes on Shelter Island.


Bern and Marnie moved a few years ago from Shelter Island to Texas. He had Parkinson's disease, but he never complained about the physical limitations of his illness. A wonderful painter and a gentle, sensitive man, Bern will be missed not only by his family but also by his many friends in Shelter Island and New York City. 


He leaves behind his wife, Marnie, his daughter Enid, his son Ted, and his grandchildren, Adam, David, Matthew and Lauren. Bern was buried in Scranton alongside his parents, his younger brother and his sister.