When an artist has over six-decades of artwork in the marketplace and is still alive at 95, they get the chance to see a resurgence of their early work. It is commonplace to find vintage works by Mary Helen Wallace from the late 1960s through the 1980s reappearing at estate sales and auctions. With the revival of the “Mid-Century Modern” look, her work matches and is a wonderful complement to this current design era.
Mary Helen goes by several titles that she has used to define herself: Self-Employed, Artist, Teacher, and a strong Cincinnatian. Over the years she has identified with and has been an active member of the Cincinnati Art Club, the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society, and the Women’s Art Club of Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Art Club is a city institution that was formed in 1890, and Mary Helen was still exhibiting in their juried exhibits as of 2017, submitting a work in pastel. An earlier work exhibited in 2011, received a special award from the club.
When announcements about her classes and workshops are released to the press and the wider community, they always start with: Professional Artist, Mary Helen Wallace. Rightfully so, she is not a Sunday painter; this is her trained profession, with skills, abilities, knowledge and knowhow. The first record of her work being selected for a Juried Show was by the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1967. As time went on, the Cincinnati Magazine kept track of her exhibits from the 1970s/80s, including exhibits at Galerie Orleans, the Jewish Community Center and the Cincinnati Nature Center. It is also believed that Mary Helen had an art demonstration program on Cincinnati Public Television (WCET-TV) with another artist in 1979, but I could not confirm it.
In the painting below from the 1970s, Mary Helen experiments with the surface and blends representational portraiture with abstraction. While that sounds cool, she starts with the composition and is a noted proponent of creating a pencil sketch right on the canvas. In the case of a portrait, she fully understands the facial structure including bones, cartilage, eye sockets and how the eye sits within the socket, cheekbones and how the jawline moves down into the chin. It almost sounds like a training class for plastic surgeons.
Beyond the composition and facial elements she uses color theory to create the right flesh tones and understands where shadows fall on the skin. The flesh tones consist of pinks, peach, burgundy and perhaps a touch of gray for the eye sockets. While the white nun habits are accentuating the facial features of the jawline and chin. She uses two figures, both in their cornette habits and gowns to create artistic tension and visual rhythm, as their habits criss-cross each other at the top of the painting. These religious garments are similar to costumes from the 1960s sitcom, “The Flying Nun”. The surprise is revealed on the back of the painting, it is a double portrait of Jenny O’Brien, whom we assume was a nun.
Mary Helen contrasts these pure religious women in white with a background of color intensity that includes hot magenta and fuchsia. The painting’s intensity matches the colors in a melting bowl of dragon fruit sherbet. The streams and blobs of color intermingled with resin attached particles provide sparkle and bold textured patterns. We are not sure if she is providing religious references to Christ’s flowing blood and the work of these followers of Christ, or if she has even considered this psychological contrast, it doesn’t matter, the composition is stunning.
References Notes:
Mary Helen Wallace, born abt.1926, signed her work frequently in capital block letters, as seen in this painting. On small paintings/sketches she would use her initials, MHW. In her long and extended career she has painted still lifes, landscapes/cityscapes, portraits (both human and animal), using all types of media.
Member:
The Cincinnati Art Club
Framing Award, 2011, “Racing with the Moon” Pastel
National Juried Show, 2017, “Stargazer” Pastel
Women’s Art Club of Cincinnati
Juried Show, 2017 “Brothers” Pastel
Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society
Clermont County Senior Citizens, Exhibit, May 2013
Taught/Demonstrations (Shorten List):
Westwood Civic Association, “West Words” (2007) Art
“Things to Do” Women’s Art Club of Cincinnati - “Get Smart About Art” (2010)
“A Day in the Life of an Artist”, Demonstration at the “Barn” (2010) Watercolor
Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society (2011) “How to make your paintings sparkle”
“Three Day Portrait Watercolor Workshop” for the WACC, (2013)
Taught many students, Acknowledgement in two books
Cincinnati Magazine:
Galerie Orleans, Exhibit, Sept and Oct. 73
Jewish Community Center, Exhibit Paintings, Nov. 73
WCET-TV - Impressionist Watercolors and Acrylics on Canvas in Bright Colors, Sept. 79
Cincinnati Nature Center, Watercolor Exhibit, April, 80
”State Fair 1967” Notable Jury selects Cincinnati Artists, Cincinnati Enquirer, Sept. 3, 1967
Mary Helen goes by several titles that she has used to define herself: Self-Employed, Artist, Teacher, and a strong Cincinnatian. Over the years she has identified with and has been an active member of the Cincinnati Art Club, the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society, and the Women’s Art Club of Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Art Club is a city institution that was formed in 1890, and Mary Helen was still exhibiting in their juried exhibits as of 2017, submitting a work in pastel. An earlier work exhibited in 2011, received a special award from the club.
When announcements about her classes and workshops are released to the press and the wider community, they always start with: Professional Artist, Mary Helen Wallace. Rightfully so, she is not a Sunday painter; this is her trained profession, with skills, abilities, knowledge and knowhow. The first record of her work being selected for a Juried Show was by the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1967. As time went on, the Cincinnati Magazine kept track of her exhibits from the 1970s/80s, including exhibits at Galerie Orleans, the Jewish Community Center and the Cincinnati Nature Center. It is also believed that Mary Helen had an art demonstration program on Cincinnati Public Television (WCET-TV) with another artist in 1979, but I could not confirm it.
In the painting below from the 1970s, Mary Helen experiments with the surface and blends representational portraiture with abstraction. While that sounds cool, she starts with the composition and is a noted proponent of creating a pencil sketch right on the canvas. In the case of a portrait, she fully understands the facial structure including bones, cartilage, eye sockets and how the eye sits within the socket, cheekbones and how the jawline moves down into the chin. It almost sounds like a training class for plastic surgeons.
"Sister Jenny O'Brien"
Acrylic, Watercolor and Resin on Canvas-board
15.5 X 24 Inches
Signed LRC: Mary Helen Wallace
Beyond the composition and facial elements she uses color theory to create the right flesh tones and understands where shadows fall on the skin. The flesh tones consist of pinks, peach, burgundy and perhaps a touch of gray for the eye sockets. While the white nun habits are accentuating the facial features of the jawline and chin. She uses two figures, both in their cornette habits and gowns to create artistic tension and visual rhythm, as their habits criss-cross each other at the top of the painting. These religious garments are similar to costumes from the 1960s sitcom, “The Flying Nun”. The surprise is revealed on the back of the painting, it is a double portrait of Jenny O’Brien, whom we assume was a nun.
Mary Helen contrasts these pure religious women in white with a background of color intensity that includes hot magenta and fuchsia. The painting’s intensity matches the colors in a melting bowl of dragon fruit sherbet. The streams and blobs of color intermingled with resin attached particles provide sparkle and bold textured patterns. We are not sure if she is providing religious references to Christ’s flowing blood and the work of these followers of Christ, or if she has even considered this psychological contrast, it doesn’t matter, the composition is stunning.
References Notes:
Mary Helen Wallace, born abt.1926, signed her work frequently in capital block letters, as seen in this painting. On small paintings/sketches she would use her initials, MHW. In her long and extended career she has painted still lifes, landscapes/cityscapes, portraits (both human and animal), using all types of media.
Member:
The Cincinnati Art Club
Framing Award, 2011, “Racing with the Moon” Pastel
National Juried Show, 2017, “Stargazer” Pastel
Women’s Art Club of Cincinnati
Juried Show, 2017 “Brothers” Pastel
Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society
Clermont County Senior Citizens, Exhibit, May 2013
Taught/Demonstrations (Shorten List):
Westwood Civic Association, “West Words” (2007) Art
“Things to Do” Women’s Art Club of Cincinnati - “Get Smart About Art” (2010)
“A Day in the Life of an Artist”, Demonstration at the “Barn” (2010) Watercolor
Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society (2011) “How to make your paintings sparkle”
“Three Day Portrait Watercolor Workshop” for the WACC, (2013)
Taught many students, Acknowledgement in two books
Cincinnati Magazine:
Galerie Orleans, Exhibit, Sept and Oct. 73
Jewish Community Center, Exhibit Paintings, Nov. 73
WCET-TV - Impressionist Watercolors and Acrylics on Canvas in Bright Colors, Sept. 79
Cincinnati Nature Center, Watercolor Exhibit, April, 80
”State Fair 1967” Notable Jury selects Cincinnati Artists, Cincinnati Enquirer, Sept. 3, 1967
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©2021. Waller-Yoblonsky Fine Art is a research collaborative, working to track artists that got lost and overlooked due to time, changing styles, race, gender and/or sexual orientation. Our frequent blogs highlight artists and art movements that need renewed attention with improved information for the researcher and art collectors. The photos and blog was created by Mr. Waller and all written materials were obtained by the Fair Use Section 107, of The Copyright Act. #waller-yoblonskyblogspot #walleryoblonskyblogspot #maryhelenwallace #cincinnatiartists
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