Dahlov Ipcar
| Dahlov Ipcar | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Dahlov Zorach November 12, 1917 Windsor, Vermont |
| Died | February 10, 2017 (aged 99) |
| Occupation | Artist |
| Spouse(s) | Adolph Ipcar (1936-2003; his death) |
Dahlov Ipcar (née Zorach; November 12, 1917 – February 10, 2017) was an American painter, illustrator and author. She was best known for her colorful, kaleidoscopic-styled paintings featuring animals – primarily in either or wild settings.
Ipcar was born November 12, 1917, in Windsor, Vermont, the younger of two children, to parents William and Marguerite Zorach. She was raised in Greenwich Village, New York City, attended City and Country School, Caroline Pratt's progressive school, and grew up surrounded by bohemian influences. Encouraged by her parents, she started painting at a very young age. She briefly attended Oberlin, dropping out after only one semester, frustrated with the academic restrictions on her artistic expression.
In 1936, at the age of 19, Dahlov married Adolph Ipcar, a young man hired to tutor her in math for her college tests. They spent that year in New York City, Adolph working as a math tutor while Dahlov taught art two days a week. The following winter, they decided to move into the extra farm house on her parents' property in Georgetown, Maine, and started a farm of their own. They became modern-day subsistence farmers: growing their own food, raising animals and their two sons, as well as selling eggs and milk on the side for extra money. Dahlov continued painting throughout her life as both a source of pleasure and income. In addition to painting, she wrote four fantasy novels, wrote and/or illustrated numerous children's books, and crafted three-dimensional cloth sculptures. Her marriage lasted until 2003, when Adolph died at the age of 98 after a brief illness.
Dahlov died on February 10, 2017, at the age of 99.
In 1939 at the age of 21, she had her first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, called Creative Growth, the first of many solo shows over the next forty years.
In the 1940s and '50s, Dahlov's art was influenced by the prevailing style of Social Realism as best illustrated by her paintings of farm workers accompanied by their heavy draft horses and domestic farm animals.
In 1945, she illustrated The Little Fisherman, her first children's book, a story written by noted children's author Margaret Wise Brown. The book is still in print. Since then, Dahlov has gone on to write and illustrate thirty children's books of her own. She has also written four fantasy novels for a slightly older audience, as well as a volume of short stories for adults. While her art in general might be described as wild colors and cheerful, her writings for adults turn to a darker, almost grim intertwining of reality and fantasy. Many of her children's books are being reprinted for a whole new generation to enjoy.
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