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Metadata
Artist |
Angel, Rifka |
Object Name |
Work on Paper |
Title |
Pot of Geraniums and Other Flowers |
Date |
1957 |
Medium |
Gouache on paper |
Dimensions |
18 x 15 in. (45.7 x 38.1 cm) |
Accession Number |
4300.0.0 |
Credit line |
Gift of Ita Aber |
About This Work |
Rifka Angel emigrated from Lithuania to the United States in 1914 to join her father in New York City. Although she studied briefly with Boardman Robinson at the Art Students League in the early 1920s, he advised her to abandon academic instruction lest it ruin her intuitive, outsider-art style, describing her as "unteachable." Although best known for her pioneering work in encaustic, Angel may have created this gouache because it was technically easier to work in that medium. Its subject is a still life of potted geraniums and other bright violet and pink flowers on a table in front of a window facing a brick wall in an interior, most likely her MacDougall Street apartment in Greenwich Village. It was painted when she was recovering from major abdominal surgery a few years after she returned to New York following a divorce and years of travel. The view alludes to her isolation, while the flowers may perhaps signal hope for recovery. |
Legal Status |
The artist or artist's estate retains all copyrights to their work. |