Audrey Flack: Contributions to Photorealism and Feminism

Audrey Flack - Macarena of Miracles - 1971 - Oil on canvas - 66 x 46 in. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYAudrey Flack (born 1931) is an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor, who is widely regarded for her innovative contributions to the Photorealist and feminist movements of the late twentieth century. While her early work included abstract motifs, Flack achieved international recognition for her incredibly detailed paintings of still-life compositions and her monumental sculptures of mythical and divine female figures. She holds the distinction of being the first Photorealist painter to have a piece bought by The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

During the late 1950s, Flack retreated from the Abstract Expressionism, which she felt did not communicate effectively or clearly with viewers. That realization marked an important turning point in her artistic career. Because she thought her ability to paint in a realistic manner was inadequate, Flack enrolled at the Art Students League to study anatomy with Robert Beverly Hale. She looked to artists such as Spanish Baroque artist Luisa Roldán (1652–1706) and Italian Renaissance painter Carlo Crivelli (c. 1430–c. 1495) as models. Her painting of a crying Virgin Mary, Macarena of Miracles (1971), makes direct reference to Roldán’s sculpture Virgen de la Macarena, La Esperanza.