Vera Neumann ~ A Woman Before Her Time

I love stories about strong women who have defied the odds and made their mark on the world. I think this comes in part from the fact that I come from a line of strong women with varied levels of remarkable accomplishments. For example, my maternal Grandmother earned her Masters Degree in Physiology and her sister piloted her own plane around the country. All of this took place in the early part of the 2oth century, which back then, was relatively unheard of. When I came across my first Vera item, a set of placemats, I had no idea who Vera was. I had 'that feeling' that she was special. In my unquenchable quest for information, I set out to find out more about Vera and was delighted to find out that she was a true pioneer; a renowned woman years ahead of her time.


Vera was an artist who had a true love of nature, bright colors and art and wanted to share her love with the world. She started out by silk-screening her artwork onto placemats out of her tiny New York City apartment in the 1940's. She is best known for her scarves, which are now extremely collectible. Her idea for scarves was birthed when she came across some old parachute silk in an army surplus store. Her early scarves were made from this silk, which actually makes Vera green 60 years ago! She went on to become very successful business woman duplicating her artwork onto a varied selection of textiles. She was doing what she loved best, painting, when she died in 1993 at the age of 86.

When I learned that her scarves were collectible, I made it my mission to find them. My first Vera scarf was an early Vera, due to the small signature, no copyright and no 'lucky ladybug', which became her signature mark in the mid 1960's. My first find was a gorgeous small square scarf decorated with a unique black symbol pattern screened on sheer red silk.


I've been hooked on Vera since then and have found many of her scarves, but none had made the impact on me that my first Vera did, until my find today! Same early Vera, silk scarf with a made in USA label, screened with soft, muted brown feathers and set off by a hand-rolled black hem. So gorgeous and so classic, not only for the aesthetic value of the piece, but for what the piece stands for ~ a woman who not only dreamed, but made her dreams come true during a time that most women were underrated.