A small abstract collage by Wynn Aldrich: 1914-2004

The following excerpt is from www.acorn-online.net/acornonline/obits/aldrich2.htm
Her husband (Larry Aldrich) once said that Wynn Aldrich, then a young artist in New York City, helped spark his interest in contemporary art. They began collecting paintings in the late 1930s. The couple moved to Nod Road in 1939 and by 1960, they were running out of space for their vast art collection. In 1963, the Aldriches acquired three acres and an 18th Century building on Main Street and a year later, they opened Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, containing much of their collection.

"Wynn Aldrich was instrumental in the growth of the museum - from designing the landscaping around the Old Hundred building to welcoming visitors, artists, and friends of the museum," said Harry Philbrick, the museum's director. "An artist in her own right, she infused the museum with a respect for artists, which is one of our hallmarks."

Mrs. Aldrich began her artistic career as a watercolorist, painting what she described as "stark, Wyeth-like watercolors of New England scenes." She moved on to floral fantasies, abstract expressionism and finally collage. She told an interviewer in 1980 that creating small collages allowed her to work in a limited space, something that was handy during the Aldriches world travels looking for new art for the museum. For her collages, she saved things most people threw away - old theater tickets, scraps of material, strips of paper from old billboards, linings from cardboard boxes. "Sometimes I feel like a bag lady walking down Ninth Avenue, tearing things off billboards," she joked.

Her work was widely exhibited in the Northeast, and at Aspen, Colo., where the Aldriches had a summer home. One of her paintings hung in the American Embassy in Portugal, acquired as part of the Art in Embassies program.

Mrs. Aldrich studied at the Art Students League, Parsons School of Design, and Silvermine College of Art, and with watercolorist and author Herb Olsen. At the Art Students League, she was a member of the Board of Control for three years. She and her husband also owned the Soho Center for Visual Arts in New York City, a gallery that included an art library for working artists.

Condition:
Good pre-owned condition, no damage.

Dimensions:
Outside frame: 9" x 12".
Collage area: 4.5" x 9.5".

Maker's Marks:
Signed on verso "Rosemary Judge with best wishes, Wynn Aldrich 1979".