Subversion and Surrealism in the Art of Honoré Sharrer

Honoré Sharrer (1920-2009) was a major art world figure in 1940s America, celebrated for exquisitely detailed paintings conveying subtly subversive critiques of the political and artistic climate of her time. This book offers the first critical reassessment of the artist: a leftist, female painter committed to figuration in an era when anti-Communist sentiment and masculine Abstract Expressionism dominated American culture. Her brightly colored, humorous, and distinctly feminine...
More Description

Honoré Sharrer (1920-2009) was a major art world figure in 1940s America, celebrated for exquisitely detailed paintings conveying subtly subversive critiques of the political and artistic climate of her time. This book offers the first critical reassessment of the artist: a leftist, female painter committed to figuration in an era when anti-Communist sentiment and masculine Abstract Expressionism dominated American culture. Her brightly colored, humorous, and distinctly feminine paintings combine elements of social realism and surrealism to seductive and disquieting effect. This publication is a timely reevaluation of an artist who pushed the boundaries of figurative painting with playfulness and biting wit.

Distributed for the Columbus Museum of Art

Exhibition Schedule:

Columbus Museum of Art
(02/10/17-05/21/17)

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
(06/30/17-09/03/17)

Smith College Museum of Art, Northamton, MA
(09/21/17-01/07/18)