Lucille Wallenrod

Photo Portrait of Lucille Wallenrod in New York, early 1950s

Lucille Wallenrod (1918–1998) was a Long Island woman artist who was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Freeport, Long Island. She studied at the W.P.A. Art Class (1939), Nassau Art League (1940), the American Artists School (1942), and with Sol Wilson at the Art Students League of New York (1943). She had her first solo exhibition at the Roko Gallery (1946) and then belonged for many years to the Charles Barzansky Gallery, both in New York City. She also participated in numerous group exhibitions in the late forties until the early nineteen sixties.

Lucille Wallenrod was handicapped from birth with cerebral palsy, and she painted with a special arm brace of her own design. She painted dramatic expressionist seascapes, with broad strokes and deep vivid colours, and still lifes and portraits as well.

She won a number of competitions, most notably the first prize in the National Art Contest sponsored by the then President Eisenhower’s Committee on the Handicapped in 1956. Judges for this competition were Isabel Bishop and Andrew Wyeth. Her work was often reviewed in New York and Long Island newspapers.

Due to a long terminal illness, Lucille Wallenrod’s output waned in her later years, yet her interest and sensitivity for the arts never faltered. She died in Ridge, New York in 1998. Her husband, Gerald Dreyblatt, died in Florida in 2008. She is survived by her son, Arnold Dreyblatt, who is a composer and media artist living in Berlin, Germany.

Group exhibitions and prizes

1940, Nassau Art League, Third Prize; 1945, Mineola Fair, Third Prize; 1950, Art League of L. I., Second Prize; 1950, Audubon Artists Annual Exhibition; 1956, National Art Contest for the Handicapped, First Prize; 1956, Foundation for the Handicapped; 1963, N. Y. World's Fair and South Shore Art League Award

Solo exhibitions

1946, Roko Gaillery, New York; 1951, Charles Barzansky Galleries, New York; 1957, Charles Barzansky Galleries, New York; 1960, Charles Barzansky Galleries, New York

Critics and press

“There is no nonsense and no tricks about Lucille Wallenrod, who concerns herself for the most part with moody, broadly treated landscapes, that lean toward the more rugged variety of romanticism.” - Josephine Gibbs, Art Digest, Nov. 1946

"Miss Wallenrod is romantic in spirit, rather than in the form of her work. Her canvases have a design that is generally clear and strong. Her color is vivid, but never garish. I like the mystery in her work- I like the moody intensity." -Sol Wilson, 1946

These landscapes and seaside scenes with figures, are vigorous thrusting compositions, the predominately somber pallette enlivened by touches of bright color”. - Howard Depree, N. Y. Times, Nov. 1946

“They are extremely spirited, even vigorous in expression and in colorhave a. rcmantic, appealing mood, the explanation of her success is the control she exercises in the swift, assured process cf her paintings” - Carlyle Burrows, Herald Tribune, Feb. 1951

“Rocks and rills, sea and sky, treated with feeling In romantic oils.” - Stuart Preston, N. Y. Times, 1951

"Lucille Wallenrod’s Paintings were brought to my attention early in 1946. In them I found a youthful freshness, vitality and honesty that only the true artist conveys in his work. A natural talent, with a consuming desire to become the complete artist, Lucille has found her way to the studio of the eminent painter, Sol Wilson. There she spent a few rewarding years in the study of art. Her first exhibition, held in November 1946, was acclaimed by art lovers and art critics... ...There were many enthusiastic comments by art critics. In this her second exhibition, Lucille reveals greater maturity, with the same freshness and spontaneity of her earlier work. She loves the sea, the sand, and the rich green vegetation at the water edge. In her brilliant color, one actually feels the salty atmosphere of the shore, and is moved by the drama of whatever her subject matter happens to be. Lucille Wallenrod is a fine artist in every sense." - Jane Rogers, 1951

“Lucille Wallenrod’s exhibition is further confirmation of her talent, determination, and courage, and we feel she is a sensitive, vigorous and colorful artist.” - Charles and Bess Barzansky, Galerists, 1956

“Dramatic power, deep feeling, ominous colors, interlocking lines are the main characteristics of scenes- done with taste and skill.” - Ralph Fabri, Pictures on Exhibit, 1960

“Conveys the different aspects of sea and sky in storm and fair weather- some still lifes that reveal the Artist's delicate perception.” - Margaret Breuning, Arts, Jan. 1960

Artist statement

To me, the creative artist is the spokesman and the backbone of the culture of his time and for times to follow. I have always wanted to create; my desires found their output in painting. In all my paintings, I attempt to project a single emotion, mood, or impact... ...I have tried to depict the boiling waters, the turbulent skies, and the frenzied activities of humans before an approaching storm, all contrasted by the mainland, still peaceful, serene, untroubled on the distant horizon.
—Lucille Wallenrod

References