Bertha Louise "Liza" Hellman (Mrs. Charles Rublee) was born in La
Grange. She grew up in Houston. She attended Rice Institute and then
received a scholarship to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine
Arts. There she studied with Daniel Garber, Arthur Beecher Carles,
and Henry Bainbridge McCarter. She traveled to France where studied
with Vaclav Vytlacil and
André Lhote and with
Howard Schleeter in New Mexico.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston honored her with her first solo
exhibition in 1925. In Houston, her
basement studio was a gathering place for the arts community. She was excellent printmaker, watercolorist and painter
exhibiting with and at the Southern States Art League, Texas Fine Arts
Association, New Orleans Art Association, Texas Watercolor Society,
San Antonio Art League, Texas Centennial Exhibition in 1936,
and the Davis
Wildflower Exhibition in 1927. A PWAP artist, her mural,
Commemoration of the Meeting of the Governments in 1874, was created
for the U.S. Post Office in Houston.
Her husband was in the military and she spent time with him in Spain
and Morocco while expanding her subject matter. In Houston
she operated the Southern School of Fine Arts in Houston before
moving to San Antonio in the 1940’s. She lived in Albuquerque from
1949 – 1955 where she was actively involved in the arts and moved to
move non-objective works. Returning to San Antonio she continued
teaching art and exhibiting in local San Antonio galleries and art
competitions.