Doris Downes

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Doris Downes. Oncidium, watercolour on paper, 2004.
Doris Downes. Oncidium, watercolour on paper, 2004.

Doris Downes is an American botanical artist[1] and painter of natural history.[2] She worked in design, and was Creative Director at Sotheby's,[3] before becoming a full-time artist in 2001.[4] She is married to the art critic, Robert Hughes, who credits his survival to her support after he had been in a serious car accident.[5]

[edit] Life and work

Doris Downes was raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia[1] and is the niece of artist Willard Downes (1908–2000). She became interested in flowers when hiking in woodlands near her home, whilst young;[1] she was taught to draw by her father,[2] who was an artist and encouraged her to see nature from an artistic viewpoint.[6] Her father committed suicide, when she was 12.[4]

At college, she took a joint degree in arts and sciences.[3] Her career started as an art director in New York City[1] in publication design including Newsweek, Condé Nast Publications and The Wall Street Journal,[3] She was awarded a Silver award from SPD (The Society of Publication Designers)[7] and an Ozzie Award for Design Excellence. She became Vice President[citation needed] and Creative Director of Sotheby's.[3]

She had two children by her first marriage, and was a divorced single mother, when she met the Australian art critic, Robert Hughes in 1997.[4] In 2001, at a low point in their relationship, he had a near-fatal car crash, was in a coma and then faced prosecution. She flew to Australia to be with him. He said, "Apart from being a talented painter, she saved my life, my emotional stability, such as it is,"[8] and, "I really wouldn't have got through it if it hadn't been for Doris. I know that's a sentimental thing to say—it's the sort of thing you're supposed to say—but it is true."[5] That year, she decided to give up employment and spend all her time painting, specialising in flowers and birds.[4] In 2003, she married Hughes in the town hall in Barcelona.[8]

Whilst in employment, she had shown her work in the Sotheby's gallery in New York.[6] Her first solo exhibition after becoming a full-time artist was held in 2003 at the Sala Pares Gallery in Barcelona, in the Espacio Fama,[1][9] showing watercolours of orchids, hibiscos, irises and tulips, painted from life.[2] Olga Spiegel described them as "worked with a modern sensitivity that makes use of the expressive and tactile values of the paper"[6][a] and said:

“ Downes shows the particularities of the flower, its nature, its fullness or destined decay, the curve or arabesque of stems and petals subject to the whim of the wind, always with a great mastery of drawing and the possibilities of watercolour to show the light, to heighten the colours or to reduce them to grey, as in the triptych Chinese hibiscus.[6][b] ”

J. J. Navarro Arisa in El Mundo considered her work to be proof that flower painting does not have to be an anachronism or merely decorative pastime, but can demonstrate a contemporary sensitivity,[9][c] and that she exemplified a combination of scientific and aesthetic inquiry.[9][d] Hughes wrote the catalogue for the show.[9]

A series of her limited edition prints were published by Circulo del Arte, in Barcelona; these were completed in collaboration with the lithographer, Vincenz Aznar.[1] In 2005, her work was included in the show, Art and the Garden, curated by Ronny Cohen at the Spanierman Gallery, New York.[10] She is an artist in the book, American Floral: a Survey, (published by Eaton Fine Art);[11] she has exhibited in the Summer Show at the Royal Academy in London; and is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists.[1]

Downes lives and works in New York with her husband.[1] They share her five-bedroom farmhouse in Briarcliff Manor, New York and his SoHo loft.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Doris Downes", American Society of Botanical Artists web site, hosted by the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, a Research Division of Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
  2. ^ a b c ABC, Madrid-Cataluna, interview 8 May 2003.
  3. ^ a b c d "Artists and artworks: Doris Downes, Círculo del Arte. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e Wadler, Joyce. "After Calamity, A Critic's Soft Landing", The New York Times. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
  5. ^ a b Brown, Mick. "A brush with death", The Daily Telegraph, 23 February 2002. Retrieved 3 February 2008]
  6. ^ a b c d Spiegel, Olga. "Premsa: Sean Scully profundiza en su camino de abstracción poética", e-barcelona.org, 17 May 2003. Retrieved 4 February 2008. Quotes by Spiegel are translated from the Spanish. [a] "trabajados con una sensibilidad moderna que arranca los valores expresivos y táctiles del papel. [b] "Downes se complace en mostrar las particularidades de la flor, su naturaleza, su plenitud o cierta decadencia; la curva o el arabesco de unos tallos y pétalos al albur del viento, siempre con un gran dominio del dibujo y de las posibilidades de la acuarela para extraer la luz, matizar los colores o limitarlos al gris como en el tríptico Chinese hibiscus"
  7. ^ "Your Biggest Investment", Smart Money, December 1996, Vol. V - Number XII
  8. ^ a b Bennett, Lennie. "The art of conversation", St. Petersburg Times, 9 November 2003.
  9. ^ a b c d Arisa, J. J. Navarro. "La vida secreta de las flores", El Mundo, 18 May 2003. Retrieved 4 February 2008. The reference is based on the original in Spanish: [c] "Pintar flores no tiene por qué ser un anacronismo o un divertimento puramente decorativista. Es perfectamente posible proseguir esa línea plástica y temática desde una sensibilidad contemporánea." [d] "La formación de la artista - en Ciencias y Artes - hace que su obra surja de un doble influjo de curiosidad científica y estética."
  10. ^ "Art and the Garden", hamptons.com, 10 October 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  11. ^ "Gallery publications: catalogues and books", Eaton Fine Art, Inc. Retrieved 4 February 2008.

[edit] External links