The World of Gloria Vanderbilt ~

Collages, Dream Boxes and Recent Paintings
Aurelia in turtleneck

When I think of Gloria Vanderbilt I think of those once thought of sexy jeans she came out with in the 1970's.  Admit it, (if you were alive in the 70's) you owned a pair or two!  Who knew she is also a painter and creates collages?  At 88, Gloria is busy painting portraits of friends and family among other things, and has been doing so since the 50's.  1st Dibs is showcasing her work in an exhibition thru October 24th.  Earlier works and dream boxes will be displayed, but only certain recent works will be for sale to benefit The Huntsville Museum of Art.


Cloud Land








Patterns

I liked the collages with their flecks of gold, shells, fabric and brightly colored bits of paper.  It looked like the faces were painted on the glass.  They had a 3-dimensional quality to them.  Often the collages were of royalist subjects.  Gloria's artistic endeavors spawned many business ventures.

Cavalier


Along side the paintings were dream boxes.  I fully admit, I do not understand the plexiglass containers filled with doll heads and paraphernalia, but somebody called it visual poetry.  Who am I to question art?


Surprises


Bye Bye Mamma from Baby Willy


Lily of the Valley


New Years Eve


Gloria usually doesn't know what she is going to paint until she is standing in front of the canvas, always wearing her denim painting smock and signature hair style.  Her inspiration; an appetite for life!



ph: Josh Gaddy


See more of Gloria's work: here
phs: 1st Dibs and CLI