Portrait of Lisa Bigelow
| Artist | Alfred Leslie (American, 1927 - 2023) |
|---|---|
| Title | Portrait of Lisa Bigelow |
| Date | 1964–1966 |
| Medium | Synthetic polymer on canvas |
| Dimensions | Overall (left edge): 103 in. (261.6 cm) Overall (right edge): 102 3/4 x 73 x 1 3/8 in. (261 x 185.4 x 3.5 cm) Framed: 103 15/16 × 74 1/8 × 2 11/16 in. (264 × 188.3 × 6.8 cm) |
| Credit Line | Museum purchase with the aid of funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 80.107 |
| This artwork is currently off display. You may be able to see this artwork by filling out an art viewing room request. | |
A larger than life greyscale portrait of a woman standing and staring ahead. Her hair is slicked back and she is dressed in a plain almost black tank dress. There is slight shadowing across her face that adds to the pallor of her skin.
Alfred Leslie, who pioneered the renewal of interest in figurative painting in the 1960s, had completed over forty large grisaille (gray toned) portraits by 1966, when a fire in his studio destroyed all but three works from this series. Portrait of Lisa Bigelow, which depicts Leslie’s soon-to-be ex-wife, was one of the few survivors. Leslie referred to his grisaille portraits as “confrontational art,“ hoping to engage the viewer through the psychology of his subjects, while simultaneously challenging the anti-figurative bias of the 1960s art world.
Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.
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"Portrait of Lisa Bigelow | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=80.107