Overview

An oral autobiography and scrapbook of the amazing life of American painter Luchita Hurtado, from Venezuela to Los Angeles via Surrealism, magical realism and countless key art scenes of the 20th century in between Over the course of her long and rich life, Venezuelan-born American painter Luchita Hurtado created a stunning body of work that only received the widespread attention it deserves toward the end of her life. In her paintings, Hurtado moved seamlessly between modernism and Surrealism, taking inspiration from South American weavings and her passion for environmentalism. This handsome volume celebrates Hurtado's life and work in her own words through a conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist, along with an abundance of never-before-seen photographs and artworks, such as self-portraits and erotic drawings. Along the way we learn of her early life in New York City, her emergence as a painter, her life with her husbands Daniel de Solar, Wolfgang Paalen and Lee Mullican, and a whole cast of artists from Leonora Carrington and Isamu Noguchi to her son Matt Mullican. Luchita Hurtado (1920-2020) was a lifelong artist, having studied fine art at the Washington Irving Campus in New York and later working as an illustrator and muralist for multiple commercial outlets. She was ingratiated into the art world from a young age and enjoyed the company of many significant 20th-century artists, painting all the while but achieving little success. Her paintings were ""discovered"" upon the death of her third husband, painter Lee Mullican. In 2016, her works were displayed publicly for the first time since the 1970s at Park View in Los Angeles. In 2019, she was included in the Time 100 list of influential people.

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9783906915609

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Reviews

A beautifully produced tome ... We must thank Obrist (and editor Marta) for the gift of these interviews, which chronicle the journey of a complex, suffering, and resilient Latinx artist.--Yxta Maya Murray ""Los Angeles Review of Books"" Before she died last year, the Venezuelan-American artist -- a contemporary of Noguchi, Duchamp, Kahlo -- spoke to the Serpentine Galleries director Hans Ulrich Obrist about her life and work.--Maira Garcia ""New York Times"" Honoring the fascinating life of painter Luchita Hurtado, this is an intimate portrait in her own words and extensive material from her studio's archive. Hurtado's story spans from Venezuela to New York, California to New Mexico and follows her friendships with renowned artists and intellectuals - from the Mexican muralists, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray.--Shana Nys Dambrot ""LA Weekly"" This new title - a ""pictorial biography"" - honours and celebrates Hurtado's long life, which saw her create work about the female body, the natural world, mysticism and transcendentalism. The book gathers together self-portraits, drawings and photographs and a conversation with Hurtado and Hans Ulrich Obrist.--Baya Simons ""Financial Times"" [A] concise summary of her peripatetic art practice (which included self-portraits, botanical drawings, and numinous paintings of the sky), and a beautifully designed object (the pressed flowers on transparent inserts feel, in particular, like a gift to the reader).-- ""Paris Review"" An extensive collection of never-before-seen archival images--including self-portraits, drawings, personal photographs and more--which work together to trace the artist's life from its beginnings in Venezuela to New York, Mexico, and finally to California and New Mexico.--Emily Gosling ""Elephant"" From her abstract and colorful canvases from the 1950s and 1960s to more recent and engaged ones mixing words with landscapes, through her self-portraits which feature numerous views of her own body, Luchita Hurtado's universe is rich, and pays homage to nature as well as to the place of women in society.--Mathieu Jacquet ""Numero""

[A] concise summary of her peripatetic art practice (which included self-portraits, botanical drawings, and numinous paintings of the sky), and a beautifully designed object (the pressed flowers on transparent inserts feel, in particular, like a gift to the reader).-- Paris Review An extensive collection of never-before-seen archival images--including self-portraits, drawings, personal photographs and more--which work together to trace the artist's life from its beginnings in Venezuela to New York, Mexico, and finally to California and New Mexico.--Emily Gosling Elephant From her abstract and colorful canvases from the 1950s and 1960s to more recent and engaged ones mixing words with landscapes, through her self-portraits which feature numerous views of her own body, Luchita Hurtado's universe is rich, and pays homage to nature as well as to the place of women in society.--Mathieu Jacquet Numero

This new title - a pictorial biography - honours and celebrates Hurtado's long life, which saw her create work about the female body, the natural world, mysticism and transcendentalism. The book gathers together self-portraits, drawings and photographs and a conversation with Hurtado and Hans Ulrich Obrist.--Baya Simons Financial Times [A] concise summary of her peripatetic art practice (which included self-portraits, botanical drawings, and numinous paintings of the sky), and a beautifully designed object (the pressed flowers on transparent inserts feel, in particular, like a gift to the reader).-- Paris Review An extensive collection of never-before-seen archival images--including self-portraits, drawings, personal photographs and more--which work together to trace the artist's life from its beginnings in Venezuela to New York, Mexico, and finally to California and New Mexico.--Emily Gosling Elephant From her abstract and colorful canvases from the 1950s and 1960s to more recent and engaged ones mixing words with landscapes, through her self-portraits which feature numerous views of her own body, Luchita Hurtado's universe is rich, and pays homage to nature as well as to the place of women in society.--Mathieu Jacquet Numero

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