- Artist or Maker
- Gladys Nilsson
United States, Illinois, Chicago, born 1940 - Title
- Getting Back to Beautiful Women
- Date Made
- 1970
- Medium
- Watercolor and graphite
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 29 3/4 × 22 1/4 in. (75.57 × 56.52 cm)
Frame: 37 7/8 × 28 13/16 × 1 5/8 in. (96.2 × 73.18 × 4.13 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2020.144
- Collecting Area
- Prints and Drawings
- Curatorial Notes
Gladys Nilsson, one of the leading members of the Hairy Who collective in Chicago, is best known for her watercolors, which combine fantasy and specificity, both presented with a sense of domesticity due to their pastel coloration. The Hairy Who (active 1964-1969) were non-conformist and non-hierarchical in their approach to art making; each of the artists involved in the group developed an idiosyncratic style.
The overall high energy of the composition of Getting Back to Beautiful Women is balanced by the minute detail of the odd, humanoid figures and Nilsson’s exquisite mastery of watercolors, a notoriously difficult medium. As with most of Nilsson’s images, there is an implied narrative that is nonetheless hard to read in any linear fashion. Even with the watercolor’s high energy—which flirts with but never falls into chaos—there is a general balance to the composition, with its tightly packed edges and a greater sense of openness in the center. The black background likewise serves to highlight the many delicately colored figures, with their elongated arms, necks, and noses.