Molly Luce and her contemporaries of the American Scene had been eclipsed by Abstract Expressionism in the early 1950s. For Luce this was an opportunity to re-evaluate and make transitions and changes, that had nothing to do with the current trends in Manhattan. While living in Little Compton, R.I., her painting began to evolve from American Scene subjects with, as Henry McBride wrote in 1924, “half the world in one picture” and high horizon lines, to, by 1950, a very low horizon line and often a single, surreal, and very disturbing subject. By the end of the 1950s she made another shift to emphasize the natural world that she loved. Her paintings now were broader with more elements in the composition, and often with very decorative compositions of repeated elements. Her friend, the writer and critic, Lloyd Goodrich wrote about her later paintings of “the outdoor world of wildflowers and plants, birds and animals, meadows and seashore, changing skies. Her knowledge of this natural world is complete; without being a professional botanist, she is the one her friends consult to identify unknown field flowers, shrubs and trees. She paints the physical features of nature with loving exactness, not as botanical or ornithological specimens but as vital parts of the total living scene.” Thus, before the “green movement” Molly Luce was one of the quiet preservers of the natural world.
On exhibit May 12 - July 3, 2008: Molly Luce: American Scene to American Green, featuring many treasures of her late journeys between the years 1945 and 1965. |
