Last fall I purchased and quickly sold a handful of works from a dealer at Brimfield by Adelaide Lawson Gaylor (1889-1986) and Wood Gaylor (1883-1957), which had been acquired from a one time neighbor of the couple on Long Island; this month I went back to scoop up a few more. This unsigned ink and watercolor of a pair of dancers is by her, c. 1930s I believe, when the worlds of modern art and modern dance were closely intertwined on their paths of liberation from tradition. One can see, and feel, it in the wonderfully sculptural bodies here, full of force and firmly planted. (And such great hands!) Lots out there about her and her work, including auction records.
From Wikipedia: "When Lawson was 93 a critic [Phyllis Braff writing for the NY Times; "An Adventurous Landscapist at 93"] summarized her life's work by describing the particular "vivacity, energy and dynamism" of her modernist style which set her apart from other artists and showed her uniquely American outlook. The critic described Lawson's method as "abstracting rhythms, simplifying descriptions, flattening, generalizing color, eliminating shadow and building an emphatic surface harmony between forms." Noting Lawson's exuberance and spontaneity, she wrote: "Occasionally viewers will associate the weightlessness of form with fantasy, innocence or naïveté. The intention, however, is to emphasize the power of direct landscape sensation." Four years later Lawson's obituary added to this overview that she and her husband had "spearheaded the modernist movement in the early years of this century." [NYTimes obit, 1986].
10 5/8" x 8 1/4". Good condition, a few small stains at upper right corner, minor.
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