I was saddened to read the obituary in today's New York Times of painter Grace Hartigan. But she lived 86 very full years.
I was really taken with the photo of her - "one tough cookie!" was my comment aloud - as happens so often with women artists, she held her own as painter and personality among such peers as Pollack and DeKooning, but is largely unknown today.
The obit is peppered by some marvelous quotes. For instance, in later years she got lumped in with Pop Art, which (like many Abstract Expressionists) she despised. But she said:
"I'd much rather be a pioneer of a movement that I hate then the second generation of a movement that I love."
On the one hand, a nice quip, but on reflection, a pretty interesting idea worth pondering.
There is an interesting 1979 interview with her that's in the archives of the Smithsonian, a long oral history, really. Quite a life. To you, Grace.
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2 comments:
I also wrote about here at:
http://cheznamastenancy.blogspot.com/
She should be in our art history books and isn't.
Yep. The oral history was too long to read on line so I printed it out last night and just read about 1/3 of it. Fascinating glimpse into the NY scene of the early 50s.
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