Hannelore Baron was born in 1926, Germany. Her family fled to Luxembourg in 1939 and eventually traveled to New York two years after, where she attended and graduated from Staubenmiller Textile High School. She resided in New York for the remainder of her life with her husband and two children. Baron had a passion for reading about philosophy, which is exhibited in her work. She also dealt with a lot of mental health issues, such as depression and claustrophobia. This too was an influence in her artwork.

“Everything I’ve done is a statement on the, as they say, human condition…the way other people march to Washington, or set themselves on fire, or write protest letters, or go to assassinate someone. Well, I’ve had all the same feelings that these people had about various things, and my way out, because of my inability to do anything else for various reasons, has been to make the protest through my artwork…“

Her focus on collage began around the 1950’s, but didn’t exhibit this until 1969 due to her poor mental health – causing numerous nervous breakdowns throughout her life. It was after this she began creating the box pieces, which she is most known for today. Baron died aged 60 in 1987.