Waller-Yoblonsky Fine Art

I first saw the painting across the way, it spoke to me and provided deep curiosity, I walked closer. The blazing color composition with geometric lines was signed in block letters, “Marie Wilner” and I determined it was going to be mine. I flipped the painting over, there was a vintage framing label from Joseph Grippi, who was located at an upscale New York address. Grippi had been the framer for the famed Jackson Pollack, a first generation abstract expressionist. The framing style and the work clearly said mid-century modern abstraction. I purchased the work, paying the full price, and walked away. Later in the day I did some internet research on Ms. Wilner, there was a plethora of sales and biographical information, yet I was further intrigued. I spent the next day researching my art books, records from the New York Times and discovered her life was an open book. The New York Times had kept track of her gallery openings from 1952 - 1969, including the name of the gallery, add...

“Fonchen” Florence Usher Lord (1911-93) was a central Florida artist best known for “Op Art” paintings and sculptures from the 1970s until her death. These works created optical effects for the observers, using geometric forms and shapes ranging from subtle to disorienting. She combined geometric forms with color theory working to create optical kinetic works that captured the eye. Lord’s undergraduate degree was from Radcliffe College (‘33) in the days when it was the sister college to the male counterpart - Harvard. Starting in 1963 was the beginning of combining the two neighboring Cambridge colleges. Her graduate degree was in Art History from Washington University (‘35), St. Louis, MO. She moved to Lakeland, Florida in 1949 with her husband who was instrumental in building communities between Tampa and Orlando. The sketch below is from the 1950s, clearly with a premier education, she would have been familiar with other abstraction artists working during those early years. ...