Lithuanian sculptor, engraver, medallist, who lived and worked in the United States of America. During his career, the sculptor created more than 125 medals, coats of arms and portraits. One of Brener's most famous works is the US 1-cent coin.
Viktoras Dovydas Breneris was born into a Jewish family in Šiauliai. His father was a skilled engraver and stamp maker. From his father, the young Viktor learned the secrets of this complex and meticulous work. At the age of 16, Viktor already had his own workshop and his name was well known around the world. Soon the family moved to the growing city of Kaunas, where Viktor also quickly developed a reputation as a skilled craftsman. This did not go down well with his competitors, who denounced Viktor to the Tsarist authorities as a counterfeiter. Viktor was arrested and sentenced to exile in Siberia. Exile would have ended his career as an artist, but he was lucky to escape. In 1890, at the age of nineteen, Victor emigrated to America. He first settled in New York. Soon after, he enrolled at Cooper Union College. He studied art in the evening classes. Brenner soon learned English and French. He was commissioned to create a Beethoven profile for the New York Musical Council Medal.
In 1898, Victor began studying in Paris with the famous French medallist Oscar Roty, at an art school called the Académie Julian. There he presented one of the first exhibitions of his work. In 1900, he was awarded a prize at the World Exhibition. At the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo and the 1904 Exposition in St. Louis, Brenner's talent as a sculptor and medalist did not go unnoticed and appreciated.
Brenner returned to the USA in 1908. In the same year, he married Anna Reeb and was given a very important commission: to create a bas-relief in memory of Lincoln.
