Otto Nirenstein was born on April 1, 1894 in Vienna. He fought in World War I, after which he founded the publishing firm Verlag Neue Graphik and the publishing house Johannes Presse. He married Franziska Countess von Löwenstein-Scharffeneck in 1922. Together they had two children: John and Eva-Marie. He developed a keen interest in art from working for his uncle and received a doctorate in art history from the University of Vienna. He then founded the Neue Galerie in Vienna in 1923 and became friendly with many renowned artists such as Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, and Oskar Kokoschka. He also worked with Rikola Verlag, another publishing company. He was also very interested in deluxe editions of literary works, which he collected.
In 1933 Otto Nirenstein changed his name to Kallir. He financially supported the Austrian chancellor, Kurt Schuschnigg, and was therefore of interest to the Gestapo after the Anschluss in 1938. He then applied for Swiss, Swedish, and American entry visas and left the Neue Galerie in the hands of his secretary, Dr. Vita Künstler, who kept the gallery alive. Otto Kallir took his family first to Sweden and then Switzerland while he stayed in Paris and opened the Galerie St. Etienne because he had been unable to obtain a work permit. While in Paris, he also published the Österreichishe Zeitung with Franz Werfel, Alma Mahler, Joseph Roth, and Martin Fuchs. In 1939, the Kallir family obtained an American visa and they moved to the U.S. Otto Kallir then established the Galerie St. Etienne, which became renowned for its German and Austrian expressionism, in New York City. He helped the American folk artist Grandma Moses to obtain national fame and was chairman of the Austrian American League. He worked with Otto von Hapsburg to convince the American attorney general, Francis Biddle, that Austria should be considered an invaded country and therefore Austrian immigrants should face no restrictions in America. He returned to Austria in 1949 and visited with his family for many of the following summers. The Neue Galerie in Vienna was closed in 1973, fifty years after its opening in 1923. Otto Kallir died on November 30, 1978, in New York. Many paintings from his personal collection were donated to the Guggenheim, such as "Knight Errant" by Kokoschka.
Johannes Otto Nirenstein was born on August 10, 1925 to Otto and Fanny Nirenstein. He was raised Catholic as it was his mother's faith and his father was a non-practicing Jew. He attended the elementary school of the Catholic School in Vienna. He then passed the entrance exam for the Schottengymnasium, where he would remain for five years until it was disbanded by the Nazis and his family immigrated to Switzerland. In 1933 the family officially changed their name to Kallir. After the Anschluss the family immigrated to Sweden, then Switzerland, and finally America. In the U.S.A., they stayed with Bob and Alice Jones, who had previously been married to their uncle and had given them an affidavit. The Kallir family moved to New York City, where John Kallir attended Manhattan College High School and then Manhattan College. He then served in the American Army Medical Corps from 1943-1946. In 1944 he became a U.S. citizen. After continuing his studies at Columbia University, he eventually became the co-founder of Kallir, Philips, Ross, a pharmaceutical advertising agency.
From the guide to the John Kallir Family Collection, 1861-1992, bulk 1894-1984, (Leo Baeck Institute)
