Dahlov Ipcar (née Zorach; November 12, 1917 – February 10, 2017) was an American painter, illustrator and author. She was best known for her colorful, kaleidoscopic-styled paintings featuring animals – primarily in either farm or wild settings.

Life and work

Ipcar was born November 12, 1917, in Windsor, Vermont, the younger of two children, to parents William and

Marguerite Zorach Marguerite Zorach (née Thompson; September 25, 1887 – June 27, 1968) was an American Fauvist painter, textile artist, and graphic designer, and was an early exponent of modernism in America. She won the 1920 Logan Medal of the Arts. Early lif ...

. She was raised in Greenwich Village, New York City; attended the

City and Country School The City and Country School is a progressive independent pre-school and elementary school for children aged 2–14 that is located in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. Founding City and Country School was founded by Caroline Pra ...

, Caroline Pratt's famous progressive school; and grew up surrounded by bohemian influences.Ipcar, Dahlov. ''My Family, My Life, My Art''
/ref> Encouraged by her parents, she started painting at a very young age. She briefly attended

Oberlin Oberlin may refer to: ; Places in the United States * Oberlin Township, Decatur County, Kansas ** Oberlin, Kansas, a city in the township * Oberlin, Louisiana, a town * Oberlin, Ohio, a city * Oberlin, Licking County, Ohio, a ghost town * Oberlin, ...

, dropping out after only one semester, frustrated with the academic restrictions on her artistic expression. In 1936, at the age of 18, Dahlov married Adolph Ipcar, a young man hired to tutor her in math for her college tests. They spent that year in New York City, with Adolph working as a math tutor while Dahlov taught art two days a week. The following winter, they decided to move into the extra farm house on her parents' property in Georgetown, Maine, and started a farm of their own. They became modern-day subsistence farmers: growing their own food, raising animals and their two sons, and selling eggs and milk on the side for extra money. Dahlov continued painting throughout her life as both a source of pleasure and income. In addition to painting, she wrote four fantasy novels, wrote and/or illustrated numerous children's books, and crafted three-dimensional cloth sculptures. Her marriage lasted until 2003, when Adolph died at the age of 98 after a brief illness. Dahlov died on February 10, 2017, at the age of 99.

Career

In 1939 at the age of 21, she had her first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, called Creative Growth, the first of many solo shows over the next forty years.Cartwright, Steve. ''Artist At Work: Dahlov Ipcar at 90''
/ref> She was the first woman and the youngest artist to be featured in a solo exhibition at the museum. In the 1940s and '50s, Dahlov's art was influenced by the prevailing style of Social Realism as best illustrated by her paintings of farm workers accompanied by their heavy draft horses and domestic farm animals. In 1945, she illustrated ''The Little Fisherman'', her first children's book, a story written by noted children's author

Margaret Wise Brown Margaret Wise Brown (May 23, 1910 – November 13, 1952) was an American writer of children's books, including ''Goodnight Moon'' and ''The Runaway Bunny'', both illustrated by Clement Hurd. She has been called "the laureate of the nursery" for ...

. The book is still in print. From then on, Dahlov wrote and illustrated thirty children's books of her own. She also wrote four fantasy novels for a slightly older audience, as well as a volume of short stories for adults. While her art in general might be described as wild colors and cheerful, her writings for adults turn to a darker, almost grim intertwining of reality and fantasy. Many of her children's books are being reprinted for a whole new generation to enjoy. By the '60s and '70s, her work began to take on a new direction. Intricate patterns and geometric designs have become her artistic signature; she always remained outside current art movements.

Murals

In addition to easel paintings, illustrations, and soft sculptures, Dahlov completed ten large-scale mural projects for public buildings, two of them for U.S. post pffices in La Follette, Tennessee, and Yukon, Oklahoma. The remaining murals may be seen at several locations in Maine as well; including the children's room at the

Patten Free Library The Patten Free Library is a public library in Bath, Maine, United States. It also serves the communities of Arrowsic, Georgetown, West Bath, and Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of ...

in Bath, and a 106-ft. panorama of Maine animals in the Narragansett Elementary School in Gorham. Golden Savanna, a 21-ft. mural of African wildlife, can be seen in the atrium of the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Springfield, Massachusetts. Many of her works can also be seen in Brunswick, Maine's Mid Coast Hospital, where she was well cared for in the end.

Collected works

Dahlov's works are now in the permanent collections of museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

in New York. She is also represented in the leading art museums of Maine, as well as in many corporate and private collections throughout the country.

Honorary degrees

Dahlov received honorary degrees from the University of Maine, Colby College and Bates College. In April 1998, The University of Minnesota honored Dahlov with The Kerlan Award for Children's literature.

Selected bibliography

*''Lobsterman'' *''Maine Alphabet'' *''Hardscrabble Farm'' *''Bug City''

References

External links

The World of Dahlov Ipcar
– Official website
Recently exhibited works
at RachelWallsFineArt.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Ipcar, Dahlov 1917 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent People from Windsor, Vermont People from Greenwich Village Painters from Vermont Painters from New York City American fantasy writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers American women novelists American children's writers American women illustrators American illustrators American women children's writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers People from Georgetown, Maine Painters from Maine Novelists from Vermont Writers from Manhattan Novelists from Maine American muralists 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists Women muralists American women painters Novelists from New York (state)