Episode 32 - Laura Shabott

 

When I found out that Laura Shabott, the artist, the lecturer, the actress, gave talks about the book, Ninth Street Women, I knew she had to do a second interview with me on Art Lovers Forum.  I wanted Laura to tell folks who are interested in art why the Ninth Street Women is so important. 

 

The book was published in 2018 and while it was a best seller there are still so many people who are interested in art who still haven’t read it. It’s about five women painters who elevated that status of women in the modern art world during the post WWII time period. Women artists were simply not taken seriously by art critics or historians. They focused most of their attention on male artists. 

 

Author Mary Gabriel explains, in Ninth Street Women, how Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler changed all that. It took Mary 20 years to write her book but, in the end, she told a remarkable and inspiring story about the power of art and the female artists who played a major role in shaping the postwar American art world.

 

Be sure to refer to episode 23 of Art Lovers Forum to learn more about Laura Shabott. She lives in Provincetown (PTown), which is three miles long yet regarded to be “America's Oldest Working Art Colony in the United States since 1850. There are now 60 art galleries, a major regional art museum, and many other organizations that provide opportunities for artists including residencies and educational programs.