Jane Wilson facts for kids

Jane Wilson (born April 29, 1924 – died January 13, 2015) was an American painter. She was known for her beautiful landscape paintings and her unique style called expressionism. Jane lived and worked in New York City and Water Mill, New York.

Growing Up and Discovering Art

Jane Wilson was born in Seymour, Iowa. She grew up on a farm during a tough time called the Great Depression. Her dad, Wayne Wilson, was an engineer. Her mom, Cleone Margaret Marquis, was a teacher, writer, and poet. Both her parents came from farming families.

Jane often said her love for painting landscapes came from her childhood in Iowa. She felt a strong connection to nature there. She remembered the huge sky and how it seemed to rest on the earth. The special light of Iowa also stayed with her. These early experiences greatly shaped her art later on.

In 1941, when Jane was seventeen, she went to the University of Iowa. She studied both painting and art history. The art department there was very modern for its time. It showed students new art styles from New York City. Jane saw paintings by famous artists like Max Beckmann and Jackson Pollock. This helped her learn about exciting new art movements like Abstract expressionism. After college, Jane taught art history for two years.

An Artist in New York City

In 1949, Jane Wilson moved to New York City with her husband, John Jonas Gruen. He was a fellow student from college. In New York, Jane became part of a group of artists and poets. This group was sometimes called the New York School. Among them were painters like Fairfield Porter and Larry Rivers. There were also poets such as John Ashbery.

Jane started to paint in a more abstract way. This was different from her earlier, more traditional training. In 1952, she began showing her art in galleries. She was even a founding member of the Hansa Gallery.

During the 1950s, Jane also worked as a fashion model. This helped her earn money to support her art career. She saw fashion design as a skilled art form. By the mid-1950s, Jane focused more on painting expressionist landscapes. She realized she had a strong connection to painting real subjects, especially landscapes.

In 1960, the famous pop artist Andy Warhol asked Jane to paint his portrait. It was called Andy and Lilacs. Jane also appeared in one of Warhol's short films called Screen Tests (films). She was also in his film 13 Most Beautiful Women.

That same year, Jane and her husband bought a carriage house in Water Mill, New York. It had a big hayloft that she could use as a studio.

Later Art and Recognition

Green Twilight by Jane Wilson (2002)

In the late 1960s and 1970s, Jane Wilson started painting more still lifes. These are paintings of everyday objects. But in the early 1980s, she returned to painting landscapes.

In 1970, Jane and her family were painted by another artist, Alice Neel. The painting was called The Family (John Gruen, Jane Wilson, and Julia). Jane's image was also included in a famous 1972 poster. It was called Some Living American Women Artists by Mary Beth Edelson.

In 1999, Jane began showing her work at the DC Moore Gallery in New York. In 2002, she received a special award. It was the Lifetime Achievement Award from Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton, New York.

A well-known art critic, Roberta Smith, praised Jane's later work in 2009. She said Jane's landscapes were "luminous," meaning full of light. She noted that Jane focused on color, light, and clouds. This made her paintings feel like a modern kind of Color Field painting.

Jane Wilson passed away on January 13, 2015, in New York City. She was 90 years old.

How Jane Wilson Painted

In 1961, Jane Wilson explained how she created her paintings. She said she mostly painted from memory. She would start by sketching out the main shapes and movements. Then, she would paint from the top down using thin layers of color. She would gradually add thicker paint.

Jane found it surprising how detailed her landscapes became. She would remember colors and paint them in certain areas. But when the painting was finished, those colors would look like real landscape elements. For figures and still lifes, she tried to blend the subject into the background. She wanted the viewer to see the paint itself, not just the object.

Where You Can See Her Art

Jane Wilson's paintings are in many major museums across the United States. Some of these include:

• Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
• Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
• Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Awards and Honors

Jane Wilson received many awards for her amazing artwork throughout her life. Some of these include:

• 2009: Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree in Painting and Photography from ArtHamptons
• 2002: Lifetime Achievement Award from The Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, New York
• 1993: The Lotus Club Medal of Merit, New York, NY
• 1990: Benjamin Altman Prize from the National Academy of Design, New York, NY
• 1988: The Eloise Spaeth Award for Distinguished Achievement in Painting from The Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, NY
• 1985: Award in Art from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
• 1967: Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, New York, NY
• 1963: Ingram Merrill Foundation, New York, NY