Grace Hartigan, 1922-2008

Painter Grace Hartigan passed away two weeks ago and the world became the tiniest bit less interesting. She was 86, so had lived "a full life" as they say, although they might not have realized how extremely full Grace's life was. Intending to write a quick bio/homage, I instead found myself immersed in Hartigan book after interview after article better getting to know this incredible--and I mean this next word as the highest of high praise--broad.

Eventually thousands of input words distill themselves into hundreds of output words and a few paragraphs emerge (Grace Hartigan's profile is here), but I am often sorry about space constraints, and sorrier still that a necessary focus on the art aspect of art history precludes so many other interesting tidbits. You will learn in the profile that Grace infiltrated the Boys' Club that was the New York School, just as you will learn that she was a wildly successful and famous painter throughout the 1950s. You will also learn that after dropping out of sight in 1960, she continued to paint but went on to another, related, wholly satisfying and lengthy career as the Director of a graduate school of painting.

What there's never enough room for are the little things that we relate to as human beings. Unless you'd been invited to supper, you wouldn't know, for example, that Grace was an excellent cook whose tables were set with spectacular artistic flair. Nowhere in the profile do I mention that Ms. Hartigan was born blessed with those particular Irish genes that make for tall, very pretty blondes, a la Grace Kelly (and, let's be honest, this didn't *hurt* when she was making friends with male artists on the Lower East Side back in the day). She had a brilliant smile, a sharp wit, intellectual curiosity and a ready, booming laugh. Before time and health issues caught up with her, she could smoke, drink and tell a dirty joke just as well as the next guy at the Cedar Tavern. She attracted lots of friends--male, female, gay, straight, rich, poor; you name it--and kept most of them, despite an unwavering tendency to speak her mind. She made some truly terrible personal choices, notably in abandoning motherhood and in quickie marriages to husbands #2 and #3, but took full credit for her mistakes. She was serious about painting, however, the one big mistake she (as opposed to many other visual artists) never made was taking herself too seriously. At the end of the day, at the end of her life, she could look back, laugh and feel nothing but gratitude that, as she said, "Painting chose me."

We should all manage our time on earth so purposefully and leave so many happy memories when we move on. Grace, mavourneen, you will be missed.

Related Reading:

• Grace Hartigan profile
• Action/Abstraction exhibition image gallery
• "Grace Hartigan dies at age 86" - obituary from the Baltimore Sun
• "Grace Hartigan, 86, Abstract Painter, Dies" - obituary from The New York Times
• "Obituary: Grace Hartigan" - from The Guardian

Image Credit:

Grace Hartigan (American, 1922-2008)
New England October, 1957
Oil on canvas
68 1/4 x 83 in. (173.4 x 210.8 cm)
Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1958
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y.
© 2008 Grace Hartigan