Born in Philadelphia in 1890, Theresa Ferber Bernstein, developed an early interest in art, attending the Philadelphia School of Design for Women now Moore College of Art. She began taking life and portraiture classes with William Merritt Chase at the Arts Student League, traveling to Europe twice to study the masters.

In 1914, Bernstein received important notice when her painting was chosen for exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. That same year she had her first solo exhibition at the Milch Galleries in New York.

Bernstein, in 1917 exhibited at the just opened Moore College of Art, with the male-dominated Ashcan School. The school recognized Bernstein as the artist who brought the most modern subject matter to "The Ten" exhibitions.

Her academic training with the American realist tradition through her studies with Garber, a pupil of Anshutz, who was a pupil of Eakins, grasped the essence of a situation and then masterfully composed the "big idea".

In the 1920's, Bernstein developed a freer style using looser, more energetic brushwork with a lighter, brighter palette. This approach dominated her later career.

Bernstein summered for more than seventy years, at her home  in East Gloucester Massachusetts.

Bernstein's observation of people and contemporary life have spanned more that a century. She established herself as a unique American realist.