Priscilla Roberts (1916 – 2001)

Home to Thanksgiving, c. third quarter 20^th century, oil on Masonite, signed lower left, 26 ¼ x 20 inches

$30,000

Priscilla Roberts was an American painter who rose to prominence in the 1940s. Home to Thanksgiving is a prime example of Arch Realism, the name Roberts gave to her variation on the more commonly used term Magic Realism.  Roberts imbued her work with a mysterious feeling of stillness, longing, and loss. The present work is a strong example not only of Roberts' technical trompe-l’oeil prowess, but also her ability to leave the viewer with confusing and conflicting impressions. In this case, that someone has just left the darkened room and that the same person has been gone for a very long time, in each case, leaving behind an unusually staged assortment of objects that hint at the missing sitter's (perhaps, the artist’s) personal stories. Roberts declared that she was a “shameless and avowed symbolist,” resulting in paintings that seem to hold treasures that once defined someone’s life. Roberts’ approach was meticulous and meditative, sometimes resulting in a single work taking over a year to complete. She once noted, "I do everything slowly... A teacher told me in school...that drawing is the finest spiritual exercise. And it is.”

A New Jersey native, Roberts studied at the Yale School of Art, Art Students League, and the National Academy of Design. Beginning in the 1940s, she exhibited at many prominent institutions, including the Carnegie Institute and National Academy of Design, winning prizes at each. She also exhibited at the Society of Independent Artists and the Corcoran Gallery. Commercially, she was presented by the Grand Central Art Gallery in New York. A highlight of her career came in 1957 when she became a National Academician, the only woman to achieve that honor during the 1950s. Roberts’ works are in the permanent collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Academy of Design, and Smithsonian American Art Museum, and many other significant museums. She is listed in Who Was Who in American Art and other standard references.