Mabel Alvarez (November 28, 1891 – March 13, 1985) was an American painter. Her works, often introspective and spiritual in nature, and her style is considered a contributing factor to the Southern California

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

and California Impressionism movement.

Life

She was born to a prominent Spanish family who lived on the island of

Oahu, Hawaii Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O’ ...

. Her father,

Luis F. Alvarez Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

, a medical doctor, was involved with the leprosy research begun by the legendary

Father Damien Father Damien or Saint Damien of Molokai, SS.CC. or Saint Damien De Veuster ( nl, Pater Damiaan or '; 3 January 1840 – 15 April 1889), born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sac ...

. Her brother, Walter C. Alvarez, would later distinguish himself as a physician and author. Her nephew Luis Alvarez (son of Walter), was a

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winner in physics. The family moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

when Alvarez was a youth. Alvarez demonstrated artistic talent at a young age and 1915 enrolled in the

Art Students League of Los Angeles Art Students League of Los Angeles was a modernist painting school that operated in Los Angeles, California from 1906 to 1953. Among its students were painters Mabel Alvarez, Herman Cherry, Stanton Macdonald-Wright and Rex Slinkard; illustrators ...

, where she enjoyed immediate success. She painted a large mural for the Panama-California Exposition San Diego, for which she won a Gold Medal. Alvarez attended William Cahill’s School for Illustration and Painting in Los Angeles and drew a charcoal portrait of a woman in profile used by the School for its catalog cover. Her first portrait painting was displayed at the Los Angeles Museum (now the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 19 ...

) in 1917, a museum with which she continued a close relationship until her death. As a young woman, she was influenced by the philosophical writings of

Will Levington Comfort Will Levington Comfort (February 17, 1878 – November 2, 1932) was a U.S. writer, known primarily for adventure novels such as '' Apache''. Three of Comfort's works served as the story for feature films. '' Somewhere in Sonora'', based on his n ...

, who espoused principles of

Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...

and Eastern mysticism. At an exhibition in 1919 Alvarez won third Black prize for her rendering of a child's head entitled "Carmen." In 1923 she won a prize for best figure-painting for her work ''Self-Portrait'' in the spring exhibition at the Los Angeles Museum. In the 1920s and 30s, her works were heavily influenced by the Synchromist Movement’s

Stanton Macdonald-Wright Stanton Macdonald-Wright (July 8, 1890 – August 22, 1973), was a modern American artist. He was a co-founder of Synchromism, an early abstract, color-based mode of painting, which was the first American avant-garde art movement to receive inte ...

and Morgan Russell, who would remain her teacher for over 20 years. These early paintings based on her interest in

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sym ...

, Art Nouveau and

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

. In 1922 she became a member of the ''Group of Eight'', along with Clarence Hinkle, Henri De Kruif, John Hubbard Rich, Donna N. Schuster, E. Roscoe Shrader, Edouard Vysekal, and Luvena Buchanan Vysekal. This ''Group of Eight'' was organized largely by Luvena Buchanan Vyeskal and Edouard Vyeskal, and the group had a basis in the progressive art movement in California. In August 1941 she had a one-woman exhibit in the Los Angeles county museum that featured paintings of bold color she created while she was staying in Honolulu. There was evidence of her stay in Hawaii because many of her paintings featured different aspects that one would find in island life, like the dress, food and plants. Specifically, one of the features of this exhibit was a large still life that depicted a fruit on a table. In 2001 her work was exhibited at Mission San Juan Capistrano in California, U.S. The primary color that Alvarez used to express herself was green which to her represented joy, love, hope, youth and mirth. These colors were played out on a stage of canvasses in the forms of universal ideals and archetypes: the child, the innocent maiden, the temptress, the faithful wife, the spiritual seeker, the earthbound spirit in limbo, and the liberated spirit that has transcended Earth's constraints. Alvarez painted into her sixties and seventies. Her works included Impressionism, as well as to figure, still-life, and portrait painting. Her late pieces are focused on religious and symbolic themes. The later years of her life were spent in a retirement apartment and then in a nursing home. She died on March 13, 1985, at the age of ninety-three in Los Angeles.

Notable collections

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single co ...

, Honolulu, Hawaii *

San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...

, San Diego, California

References

Bibliography

* Forbes, David W., "Encounters with Paradise: Views of Hawaii and its People, 1778–1941", Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1992, p. 247–248.

External links

Artwork of Mabel Alvarez
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Mabel American women painters 1891 births 1985 deaths American people of Asturian descent American people of Spanish descent Hispanic and Latino American women in the arts Painters from California Painters from Hawaii 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists Hispanic and Latino American artists