The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
Samuel Baer Filner (c1907-1974) immigrated to Western Pennsylvania from Poland around 1912. He studied under Samuel Rosenberg at the Irene Kaufmann Settlement House’s Neighborhood Art School, at Fifth Avenue High School, and at the Carnegie Institute of Technology’s College of Fine Arts, as well as stints in New York and Paris.
Filner received early attention for drawing and painting. He won a scholarship in 1927 from the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and he was awarded the Institute of International Education’s Woolley Fellowship at the University of Paris in 1933, which allowed him to spend two yearlong stretches studying in France. Upon returning from France, he signed some works “Schimabaer,” after his Hebrew name.
After graduating with honors from Carnegie Tech in 1928, Filner opened a portrait studio on Center Avenue while driving a delivery truck for a local bakery at nights. He was an active member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh throughout the 1930s, exhibiting regularly and winning several awards. He exhibited locally at the Wunderley Gallery, the Gulf Gallery, and the Art Cinema movie theater downtown, the Warner movie theater downtown, the Allegheny County Fair Grounds museum, and the B. K. Elliot Co.
Filner gained a reputation in his day for documenting the pool halls and gambling joints of the Hill District, but his most lasting work today is a series of etchings depicting scenes from the Irene Kaufmann Settlement House. In addition to visual art, he was known locally as an amateur actor with the Irene Kaufmann Settlement Playhouse.
Filner joined a group of local artists in 1936 in converting the 18-room Coltart mansion at 3431 Forbes Ave. into artist apartments and studios called “The Four Columns.” The group included Richard Crist, William Luther McDermott, Bert Dien, Faith Smith, Leland Knoch, and Mary Shaw Marohnic. The idea emerged from the Museum Extension Unit of the Works Progress Administration. The Four Columns appears to have lasted less than a year. Filner joined the Museum Extension Unit following Crist’s departure.
In the late 1930s or early 1940s, Filner relocated to New York to work as a commercial artist for Halton Industries. He retired to Florida in 1973. He is buried in the Workman’s Circle No. 45 Cemetery under the inscription “All of Earth’s Beauty His Eyes Beheld.”