Joan Snyder facts for kids

Joan Snyder (born April 16, 1940) is an American painter from New York. She is known for her unique and expressive artwork. Joan Snyder has received several important awards, including being a MacArthur Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow.

In the early 1970s, Snyder became well-known for her "stroke paintings." These paintings used bold brushstrokes and a grid pattern to explore abstract painting. Later in the 1970s, she stopped using the strict grid. Instead, she started adding symbols and words to her art. Her paintings also became more textured and complex. Some of her early works were shown in major art exhibitions like the Whitney Biennial in 1973 and 1981, and the Corcoran Biennial in 1975.

Many people describe Snyder's art as telling stories about her own life and shared human experiences. She uses a very personal style and is always trying new techniques and materials. Through her work, Joan Snyder has expanded what abstract painting can express. She has inspired many new artists.

Today, Joan Snyder lives and works in Brooklyn and Woodstock, New York.

Early Life and Education

Joan Snyder was born on April 16, 1940, in Highland Park, New Jersey. She went to Douglass College, where she studied Sociology and earned her bachelor's degree in 1962. Later, she continued her art education at Rutgers University, earning her master's degree in fine arts in 1966.

Personal Life

In 1969, Joan Snyder married photographer Larry Fink. They had a daughter named Molly in 1979. The couple later divorced in 1985. Joan Snyder also has a grandson, Elijah, who was born in 2012.

In 2011, Snyder married Margaret Cammer. Margaret had been her partner for 28 years. Margaret Cammer is a retired judge from New York State.

How Joan Snyder Creates Art

In 1962, while living on a farm in New Jersey, Snyder had a studio near the Raritan River. There, she created some of her first paintings. These early works included scenes of farms and landscapes, as well as expressive portraits.

In the mid to late 1960s, she explored the idea of "female sensibility" in her art. She used unusual materials in her paintings, such as lentil seeds, flocking (a fuzzy material), thread, glitter, and gauze. Snyder saw using these non-art materials as a special, almost ritual-like, part of making her paintings. She often brought ideas from music, poetry, and words into her art. This helped her push the meaning of her pieces even further. These experiments led to her famous "stroke paintings" in the late 1960s and early 1970s. During the 1960s, Snyder worked alongside other artists like Mary Heilmann, Jennifer Bartlett, and Harriet Korman. They were all trying to bring more of the art-making process itself into their finished works.

Exploring Stroke Paintings

Creek Square (1974) at the National Gallery of Art in 2022. This painting is an example of Joan Snyder's "stroke paintings."

In the early 1970s, Joan Snyder began to focus on paint itself as the main subject of her art. She created abstract paintings using bold, expressive brushstrokes over a gridded background. These artworks became known as her "stroke paintings." They were featured in important exhibitions like the Whitney Biennial in 1973 and 1981, and the Corcoran Biennial in 1975.

After the "stroke paintings" in the mid-1970s, Snyder's art once again explored "female sensibility." Her work became even more focused on the different materials she used. By the late 1970s, she stopped using the strict grid patterns. Instead, she started adding symbols and text more clearly into her paintings.

Joan Snyder and the Feminist Art Movement

Joan Snyder played an important role in the feminist art movement. In 1971, she started the Mary H. Dana Women Artist Series. This is the oldest continuous art exhibition space in the United States. It is dedicated to showing the work of both new and established women artists.

She was also a founding member of Heresies, a Feminist Publication On Art and Politics. This was a magazine created by artists and critics. Other members included Ida Applebroog, Joyce Kozloff, Lucy Lippard, Nina Yankowitz, Joan Braderman, Sue Heinemann, and Miriam Schapiro.

Awards and Recognition

Joan Snyder has received many significant awards for her contributions to art:

• 1974: National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
• 1983: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship
• 2007: MacArthur Fellowship (often called the "Genius Grant")
• 2016: Arts & Letters Award in Art from the American Academy of Arts & Letters

Where to See Her Art

Joan Snyder's artwork is part of many public art collections around the world. Here are some of the museums where you can find her pieces:

• Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
• Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
• Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
• Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
• Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA
• High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
• The Jewish Museum, New York, NY
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
• The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
• National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
• National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
• Neuberger Museum, State University of New York at Purchase, NY
• The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
• Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham MA
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
• Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA
• Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
• Tang Museum, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
• Tate Modern, London, England
• University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
• Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
• Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS
• Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

See also

In Spanish: Joan Snyder para niños