“Only my love of the straight line keeps me going.”
Carmen Herrera began painting in the late 1930's and has continued to do so until today. The NY Times describes her as the "the new hot thing" at age 94. The author, Deborah Sontag, describes her as "a minimalist whose canvases are geometric distillations of form and color." Carmen Herrera's story has a lot to tell about the position of women in the arts but also about the value of persistence and commitment. She always concerned herself with painting and did not worry about exhibits and galleries. She sold her first painting at age 89. She was supported by husband, Jesse Loewenthal who taught at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan alonmg with Frank McCourt. She is quoted in the article:
“I do it because I have to do it; it’s a compulsion that also gives me pleasure,” she said of painting. “I never in my life had any idea of money and I thought fame was a very vulgar thing. So I just worked and waited. And at the end of my life, I’m getting a lot of recognition, to my amazement and my pleasure, actually.”
NY Times Article
Images, critical essays and bio at Latin Collector
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