Self Portrait with Flower
Early 1960s Oil
#D1545
$2,650
Shirley Plaut Schaefer
This early 1960s oil on canvas self portrait is by Shirley Plaut Schaefer (1920-2017). Schaefer was a New York-born painter whose vibrant, color-rich compositions reflect the influence of French Post-Impressionism, particularly the work of Henri Matisse. Born, raised, and educated in New York City, she studied at the Art Students League, the National Academy of Design, and the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later Parsons), where her studies with the influential painter and teacher Will Barnet had a profound impact on her artistic development. Her distinctive visual language embraced flattened areas of color, simplified figures and silhouettes, and decorative patterning. New York itself was a lifelong muse, from the soaring skyscrapers she watched being constructed to the movement and rhythms of the city's dancers, whom she often welcomed into her Queens home, where she maintained a painting studio in the third-floor attic. In 1943, she became the first female art director at The New York Times, earning national recognition for her graphic design and art direction. Her paintings were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Carnegie Institute, Everhart Museum, and ACA Gallery, among others. In the 1960s, she was represented by Manhattan's Pietroantonio Galleries, which presented solo exhibitions of her work in 1964 and 1966, marking important achievements for a woman artist in New York's male-dominated art world when fewer than three percent of solo shows were dedicated to female artists. In 1978, Schaefer relocated to San Diego, where she continued painting well into her later years.
Early 1960s
Oil on Canvas
28.25"x32.25" framed, 23"x30.5" unframed
Signed lower right. Framed floating on a gray archival linen mat using a contemporary wood frame with a gray finish behind plexiglass. Excellent vintage condition.
