early life and education charmion von wiegand, an american journalist, abstract painter, writer, collector, benefactor, and art critic, was born in 1896 in chicago. she grew up in arizona and california, attending a public school in san francisco, where she first became interested in chinese culture during visits to chinatown. von wiegand spent three years in berlin as a teenager before studying at columbia university school of journalism, later transferring to the department of art and archeology. career and influences von wiegand's artistic journey began in 1926, during her psychoanalytic t…