Mabel Alvarez

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Mabel Alvarez (born November 28, 1891 - died March 13, 1985) was an artist and oil painter. She was born to a prominent Spanish family who lived on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.

Her father, Luis F. Alvarez, a physician, was involved with the leprosy research begun by the legendary Father Damien. Her brother, Walter C. Alvarez, would later distinguish himself as a physician and author. Her niece is Bernice Alvarez Brownson and her nephew is Luis Alvarez (son of Walter), winner of a Nobel Prize in physics.

Alvarez demonstrated artistic talent at a young age and 1915 enrolled in a Los Angeles art school, where she enjoyed immediate success. She painted two notable works at this time, a large mural for the Pan-California Exposition in San Diego, for which she won a Gold Medal. Alvarez attended William Cahill’s prestigious School for Illustration and Painting in Los Angeles and drew a haunting charcoal portrait of a woman in profile used by the School for its catalog cover.

Her first portrait painting was displayed at the Los Angeles Museum (now the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) in 1917, a museum with which she continued a close relationship until her death. As a young woman, she was influenced by the philosophical writings of Will Levington Comfort, who espoused principles of Theosophy and Eastern mysticism.

In the 1920’s and 30’s, her works were heavily influenced by the Synchromist Movement’s Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Morgan Russell, who would remain her teacher for over 20 years. Alvarez’s work was a constant evolution.

The primary color that Alvarez used to express herself was green; many soft hues of green, which to her represented joy, love, hope, youth and mirth. These colors were played out on a stage of canvasses in the forms of universal ideals and archetypes: the child, the innocent maiden, the alluring and seductive temptress, the faithful wife, the spiritual seeker, the earthbound spirit in limbo, and the liberated spirit that has transcended Earth's constraints.

Alvarez continued to paint through her sixties and seventies, and to exhibit regularly, including with the Women Painters West organization. Her works included Impressionism, as well as to figure, still-life, and portrait painting. Her late pieces are introspective, focusing on religious and symbolic themes.