• Intelligencer
  • The Cut
  • Vulture
  • The Strategist
  • Curbed
  • Grub Street
  • Subscribe to the Magazine Give a Gift Subscription Buy Back Issues Current Issue Contents
    Subscribe to New York Magazine
  • Subscribe
  • Profile
    Sign Out
The Cut
  • Style
  • Self
  • Culture
  • Power
Style
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Shopping
  • Parties & Red Carpet
  • Fashion Shows
  • Cathy Horyn
Self
  • Health & Wellness
  • The State of the Uterus
  • Parenting
  • Advice
  • Sex & Relationships
  • Horoscopes
Culture
  • Books
  • Television
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Celebrity
Power
  • Politics
  • Work
  • Money
  • Rebecca Traister
More
  • Latest Stories
  • Video
  • About Us
  • The Cut Shop
  • nymag.com
  • New York Magazine
  • Intelligencer
  • Vulture
  • The Cut
  • The Strategist
  • Grub Street
  • Curbed
first looks
February 27, 2013

Jay DeFeo, Forgotten Female Beat Artist, Gets Her Due

By Julie Ma

Share

  • Share
  • Tweet
Photo: Courtesy of The Whitney Museum of American Art

If painters could produce one-hit wonders, then Jay DeFeo’s The Rose would rise up the charts. The Berkeley-born artist, acclaimed for her 2,000-pound oil painting that she painted, repainted, and chiseled away at over a span of eight years, is finally receiving recognition for her other works, most of which were overshadowed by her monolithic gray-and-white piece. “This is an artist who’s recognized for one work, but has had a career for 40 years,” explains Dana Miller, the curator behind the artist’s upcoming Whitney retrospective. “Being an artist didn’t seem like a choice for her. There was an internal motivation as it wasn’t imaginable to have a viable and lucrative career back then,” Miller says. “The fact that she’s known for one work does a disservice to her career.”

Starting on February 28, the Whitney aims to change that. The museum will feature over 150 items from the more eclectic pockets of her work, including small-scale wire sculptures and jewelry pieces she crafted to support herself financially during her Beat-era years in Berkeley; “gray” period paintings, from when she traveled to Paris and spent her days working indoors; her response pieces to the Abstract Expressionist period; plaster sculptures; and finally, her “build up, build down” photo collages that she formed post-Rose, using a similar, labor-intensive process. According to Miller, DeFeo was a woman married to her work, who was creating not for the marketplace but for her peer group, whether that meant her fellow Beat-era creatives at the legendary Six Gallery or even just herself. Click through the slideshow to see snapshots of a young Jay working on her massive masterpiece in her studio as well as her graphite paintings and photo collages that the Whitney will display through June 2.

View
1 / 14 Photos
DeFeo lounges at her Fillmore Street apartment in 1960. Photo: Courtesy of The Whitney Museum of American Art
The artist takes a smoke break from paintingThe Jewel. Photo: Courtesy of The Whitney Museum of American Art
DeFeo works on Deathrose in 1960. Photo: Burt Glinn/©Burt Glinn / Magnum Photos
DeFeo works on The Jewel at her Fillmore Street apartment in 1959. Photo: Courtesy of The Whitney Museum of American Art
DeFeo stands in front of The Rose at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1969. Photo: Courtesy of The Whitney Museum of American Art
Reflections of Africa No. 8, 1989 Charcoal and graphite on paper, 11 5/8 x 17 1/8 in. (29.5 x 43.5 cm) The Jay DeFeo Trust, Berkeley Photo: Ben Blac... Reflections of Africa No. 8, 1989 Charcoal and graphite on paper, 11 5/8 x 17 1/8 in. (29.5 x 43.5 cm) The Jay DeFeo Trust, Berkeley Photo: Ben Blackwell
Untitled (for B.C.), 1973 Photo collage on mat board, 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (24.1 x 19.1 cm) Private collection Photo: M. Lee Fatherree
Dove One, 1989 Oil on linen, 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8) Collection of Dan and Claire Carlevaro Photo: Ben Blackwell
After Image, 1970 Graphite, gouache, and transparent synthetic polymer on paper with cut-and-torn tracing paper, 14 x 19 1/2 in. (35.6 x 49.5 cm) Th... After Image, 1970 Graphite, gouache, and transparent synthetic polymer on paper with cut-and-torn tracing paper, 14 x 19 1/2 in. (35.6 x 49.5 cm) The Menil Collection, Houston; gift of Glenn Fukushima Photo: Paul Hester
The Rose, 1958–66 Oil with wood and mica on canvas, 128 7/8 x 92 1/4 x 11 in. (327.3 x 234.3 x 27.9 cm) Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gi... The Rose, 1958–66 Oil with wood and mica on canvas, 128 7/8 x 92 1/4 x 11 in. (327.3 x 234.3 x 27.9 cm) Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of The Jay DeFeo Trust, Berkeley, CA, and purchase with funds from the Contemporary Painting and Sculpture Committee and the Judith Rothschild Foundation. Photo: Ben Blackwell
Blue One, 1989 Oil on linen, 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm) The Jay DeFeo Trust, Berkeley Photo: Ben Blackwell
Untitled, from the Water Goggles series, 1977 Synthetic polymer, charcoal, ink, grease pencil and graphite on paper, 15 x 20 in. (38.1 x 50.8 cm) Pr... Untitled, from the Water Goggles series, 1977 Synthetic polymer, charcoal, ink, grease pencil and graphite on paper, 15 x 20 in. (38.1 x 50.8 cm) Private collection Photo: Ben Blackwell
Reflections of Africa No. 8, 1989 Charcoal and graphite on paper, 11 5/8 x 17 1/8 in. (29.5 x 43.5 cm) The Jay DeFeo Trust, Berkeley Photo: Ben Blac... Reflections of Africa No. 8, 1989 Charcoal and graphite on paper, 11 5/8 x 17 1/8 in. (29.5 x 43.5 cm) The Jay DeFeo Trust, Berkeley Photo: Ben Blackwell
The Eyes, 1959 Graphite on paper, 42 x 84 3/4 in. (106.7 x 215.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, gift of the Lannan Foundation Photo:... The Eyes, 1959 Graphite on paper, 42 x 84 3/4 in. (106.7 x 215.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, gift of the Lannan Foundation Photo: Geoffrey Clements
1 / 14

Tags:

  • the whitney
  • jay defeo
  • the rose
  • art
  • exhibition
  • first looks
  • retrospective
  • More

More Galleries

red carpet June 5, 2022
All the Best Looks at the 2022 MTV Movie and TV Awards  Sydney Sweeney, Vanessa Hudgens, Jay Ellis, and more! 
parties! May 20, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Harry Styles > everyone! 
parties! May 13, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Bury me in Dove Cameron’s Saint Sintra skirt. 
parties! May 6, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Cue the Met Gala after-party FOMO. 
met gala 2022 May 2, 2022
Met Gala 2022: All the Looks [Photos]  Billie Eilish, Kim Kardashian, Michelle Yeoh, Hailey Bieber, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Blake Lively, and more. 
parties! Apr. 29, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  This one goes to Olivia Rodrigo and her sweater vest. 
parties! Apr. 22, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  “Fuck those Zoom tops.” 
celebrity style Apr. 18, 2022
The Best Looks From Coachella 2022  From Harry Styles’s sparkling Gucci set to Megan Thee Stallion’s metallic bodysuit. 
style Apr. 13, 2022
A Look Inside the New Museum’s Spring Gala  Featuring all the best looks. 
grammys 2022 Apr. 3, 2022
Grammy Awards 2022 Red Carpet: All the Looks  Lady Gaga, Olivia Rodrigo, Lenny Kravitz, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, and more. 
oscars 2022 Mar. 28, 2022
How Were The Oscars After Party Looks Better Than The Actual Award Looks?  Finally, some fun. 
oscars 2022 Mar. 27, 2022
All the Looks From the 2022 Oscars Red Carpet  Zendaya, Regina Hall, Timothée Chalamet, Andrew Garfield, Kristen Stewart, Ariana DeBose, and more. 
style Mar. 22, 2022
Bridgerton Season 2 Premiere: All the Red-Carpet Looks 
style Mar. 13, 2022
BAFTAs 2022: All the Red-Carpet Looks  Florence Pugh, Daniel Kaluuya, Emma Watson, and more! 
celebrity fashion Mar. 6, 2022
Spirit Awards 2022: All the Red-Carpet Looks  Julia Fox, Andrew Garfield, Kristen Stewart, and more! 
Mar. 1, 2022
All of Rihanna’s Maternity Looks  From belly-baring looks to sexy leather dresses. 
Feb. 27, 2022
SAG Awards 2022: All the Red-Carpet Looks  Selena Gomez, Ariana Debose, Daveed Diggs, and more! 
paris couture week 2022 Jan. 27, 2022
Glenn Martens Wows As Guest Couturier for Gaultier Haute Couture It is a sight to behold.
By Vivian Chuang
Dec. 9, 2021
All the Looks From the And Just Like That … Red Carpet  Sarah Jessica Parker, Billy Eichner, Sara Ramirez, and more. 
style Nov. 29, 2021
Gotham Awards 2021: All the Red-Carpet Looks  Tessa Thompson! Kristen Stewart! And more. 
  • Style
  • Self
  • Culture
  • Power
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Help
  • We’re Hiring
  • Press
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Ad Choices
  • Do Not Sell My Info
  • Accessibility
The Cut is a Vox Media Network. © 2022 Vox Media, LLC. All rights reserved.