Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal

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Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal, oil on canvas, 48"X28". Date unknown (probably between 1948 and 1952). Title unknown (if any). Bearing in mind that Elaine Hamilton worked in Mexico as a muralist assistant to Diego Rivera, this would appear to be a surrealistic historical allegory of Mexico. The architectural forms along the top, with their flecks of stained glass in the windows to the left, clearly represent churches or cathedrals or simply "the Church" (or, by further extension, Spain, Europe, colonialism, etc.). These morph into a sinister, sinewy (or bony) kind of encrustation over a white, shroud-like ground which appears to cover pyramid shapes — notice what appear to be pyramid steps in the white area at the left. Beneath this white shroud, to the left, is a blood-red, roughly heart-shaped, drape-like object, like a matador's cape. From under this, along the bottom of the canvas, emerges the muscular brown forearm and hand of a supine figure presumably representing the defeated or repressed native people of Mexico. Judging from the robust color and vigorousness of this hand, the supine figure is not dead but merely asleep. Though evidently a very "readable" painting in terms of referential meaning, the piece nevertheless has a powerful abstract beauty without any need of symbolic interpretation. The strong gestural force of this work foreshadows Hamilton's later adoption of the "action painting" technique and aesthetic.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal, the American artist, was born Elaine Hamilton in 1920 in Catonsville, Maryland, near Baltimore.

[Please note: the primary source of information for this article is the article on Elaine Hamilton O'Neal at marylandartsource.com, a website maintained by and therefore carrying the authority of the following institutions: the Baltimore Museum of Art; the Enoch Pratt Free Library; Johns Hopkins University; the Maryland Institute College of Art; the Maryland Historical Society; the Maryland State Department of Education; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and the Walters Art Museum.]

[edit] Rolling stone: a cosmopolitan career

After graduating in 1945 from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, Elaine Hamilton went on to study with Robert Brackman in New York as a member of the Art Students League. Thereafter she worked as an assistant muralist under Diego Rivera in Mexico and received a mural commission for Mexico's Instituto Allende in 1952. She mounted a solo exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1951 and then won a Fulbright scholarship to study painting in Italy in 1952; the Fulbright grant was then extended for another year. She spent most of the rest of her career abroad.

Elaine Hamilton was an invited exhibitor at the Venice Biennial in 1956 and again in 1958. During her extensive travels in the 1950s, she remained prominent in the Baltimore contemporary art scene, winning the Popular Prize in the Baltimore Museum of Art's Maryland Artists Exhibition in 1952 and again in 1959. During the 1950s and 1960s, she had solo exhibitions of her work in major galleries and museums all over the world, in cities including Rome, Milan, Turin, Florence, Mexico City, Osaka, and Karachi (Pakistan), and she was featured in numerous multi-artist exhibitions in these cites as well as in Paris, New York (the Whitney Museum), Washington, DC (Corcoran Gallery), Tokyo, and others. She won first prize in the Biennale de Menton, France, in 1968.

According to Partha Mitter in Indian Art (Oxford History of Art), Elaine Hamilton was an important influence on the young Pakistani artist Ismail Gulgee (or Guljee, as it is sometimes spelled): "Impressed by the visiting American artist Elaine Hamilton, Guljee enthusiastically plunged into action painting...." [p.214]. In fact, according to David Craven, Hamilton became something of an ambassador for abstract expressionism in South Asia: "[Abstract expressionism] was promoted as a 'universal style' in Pakistan during the 1950s by a U.S. artist named Elaine Hamilton" [p. 23].

It is ironic that Elaine Hamilton apparently was received as a kind of representative American abstract expressionist abroad, because she appears to have gotten pushed in the direction of abstract painting not in America, but in Europe, perhaps partly through her association with a certain Frenchman by the name of Michel Tapié de Céleyran, an early exponent of "tachisme". It must also be noted that, according to marylandartsource.com, Hamilton did not create her first purely abstract painting ("Burst Beyond the Image") until 1960, after an expedition to K-2 in Pakistan. It was while in Italy or France that HamiIton gained the admiration and support of Michel Tapié, a highly influential French critic and respected painter who was also co-founder of the International Center of Aesthetic Research in Turin, Italy.

In 1971, Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal purchased a chateau in France, where she lived and worked for the next 30 years (though from 1952 on, she and her husband always maintained a residence in Birmingham, Alabama as well). She returned in 2001 to her native town of Catonsville in Baltimore County, Maryland (where she still resides). Today her work is in the collections of the Museum of the International Center of Aesthetic Research (Turin, Italy) and the Birmingham (Alabama) Museum of Art, as well as in many private collections throughout the world. Below, the reader can find external links to images of her work in a recent (May 2006) auction record from Paris, and in the bio at MarylandArtSource.com (the primary information source for this article). It appears that she is known exclusively as a painter of oil-on-canvas works (excepting the murals), there being no mention in the available sources of her having created other kinds of visual art (such as sculpture, for example).

[edit] Style: realism, then abstraction, and finally "action"

Stylistically, Elaine Hamilton passed through a number of stages, generally tending toward greater abstraction as time went on. Having won the prize for portrait painting at MICA, it was natural that she went on to study in New York with Robert Brackman, a master of realistic portraiture and other figurative painting. In the late 1940s to early 1950s, the influence of her mentor Diego Rivera is evident in the earthy textures and colors as well as in the heavy, sculpted forms of her increasingly abstract paintings (see the above example). Meanwhile, the scale of her work increases, also as a result of her study with the Mexican muralist (according to the MarylandArtSource essay). In the early 1950s there are other canvases that show nightmarish, contorted, bloody-looking images suggestive of slaughtered but unidentifiable bodies or body parts, somewhat in the manner of Francis Bacon. In about 1960, she took up a very personal approach to "action painting" (or "gestural abstraction", as it is sometimes called), and it is for her paintings in this later, abstract expressionist manner that she is probably best known. She is also sometimes classed as a "lyrical abstractionist".

The 2006 Benezit Dictionary of Artists is emphatic in its praise:

"A globetrotter who has scaled the heights of the Himalayas, Hamilton makes profoundly serious work. Clearly part of the movement known as 'lyrical gestural abstraction', her painting is full of verve and invention and manifests an extraordinary gift for colour and substance."

[edit] Life as she lived it: from a tent in the woods to a castle in France

The sources do not say precisely when during her dizzying peregrinations Elaine Hamilton married, taking on the "O'Neal" surname, but it was certainly no later than 1952 (the year in which, according to marylandartsource.com, she and her husband began to maintain a residence in Birmingham, Alabama).

It is evident, judging from the fact that she purchased a French chateau in 1971, that at some point Elaine Hamilton became quite a wealthy woman; but as a child, she certainly got used to doing without creature comforts from time to time. According to a 2002 interview (quoted in the context of a paper at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources on the history of the forest reserve), during the 1920s Elaine and her family (parents and two brothers) lived nearly half of each year in an "army-style wall tent" in Maryland's Patapsco state forest reserve (this interview can be found in the external link given below):

“ 'We had what we needed,' she later recalled. Her experience at the park was a blend of rugged outdoor living complemented with the trappings of the modern middle-class lifestyle. Her family, on the one hand, was forced to dig a privy, sleep on straw mattress cots, and make several trips a day down to the local spring for fresh water; however, on the other hand, they cooked on a modern oil stove, owned a piano, and had electric power wired in from Bloede’s Dam for lighting and a radio... O’Neal’s experience at the Patapsco was simultaneously rugged and refined."

The Hamilton family apparently did not camp in the park out of economic necessity, but rather for enjoyment. The state park service encouraged middle class and working families to camp there for extended periods, "roughing it pleasantly" for their spiritual and physical refreshment. Nevertheless, these long stays in the forest were rather more rigorous than today's typical family camping adventure, which doesn't ordinarily last for months or include having to dig one's own privy. According to O'Neal, it was because of this experience of making a cultured life in the wilderness that she “learned to be creative and inventive.”

The MarylandArtSource biography also mentions that over the course of Hamilton's travels in the Indo-Pakistan region, she made expeditions to K-2 and Mount Everest and eventually became a Buddhist.

For the researcher, this is a biography with many missing pieces, but it is clear that in her 86 years, Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal — having resided in New York, Mexico City, Rome, Karachi, Tokyo, Alabama, and Paris before returning to her native Catonsville — has led quite an adventurous life. She began in a kind of picturesque, sylvan rusticity, progressed to high scholastic honors and artistic achievement, and at length arrived at a life of wealth, privilege, and complete artistic freedom. Along the way, she sojourned in the midst of fantastically varied peoples, cultures, and landscapes.

[edit] Possible political intrigue: the painter who came in from the cold?

A tantalizing question comes up concerning the life of Elaine Hamilton: was she somehow involved with the CIA? The answer is: apparently not; however, this has not prevented speculation to this effect from surfacing at a reputable academic conference.

At Britain's Oxford Brookes University, in September 2004, an academic conference called "1956: Legacies of Political Change" included artist-scholar Rasheed Araeen's presentation entitled "The Cold War, Abstract Expressionism and the Presence of the American Artist, Elaine Hamilton, at the Time of the CIA’s Supported Military Coup in Pakistan in 1957". Unfortunately, the text of this provocatively titled paper (or perhaps it was only a presentation) is not available on line, so one must avoid leaping to conclusions. Yet it must also be noted that Frances Stonor Saunders's groundbreaking book, "The Cultural Cold War - The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters" reveals that the CIA was indeed involved in the funding and promotion of American abstract expressionist artists as part of its propaganda strategy. So the role of Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal in this - if any - might make a good subject for additional research. Nevertheless, it must be noted at the outset that the marylandartsource.com chronology appears to preclude Hamilton's being in Pakistan in 1957, and so Mr. Araeen would seem to be mistaken (see section on chronology problems).

[edit] Nomenclature: note to researchers

As so often happens with women artists, one sees this artist's name in many forms. The greater Baltimore telephone directory shows her name in the hyphenated form used at the top of this article, but other sources (such as Askart.com) call her simply Elaine Hamilton, as though she'd never married, while yet others list her as "Elaine Hamilton O'Neal", omitting the hyphen. Moreover, she signed her work inconsistently — sometimes signing herself (even after marrying) "Elaine Hamilton", sometimes "Elaine H. O'Neal", and sometimes simply "Hamilton". The 2006 Benezit dictionary lists her as "Elaine Hamilton", with no mention of the married name (which, to further complicate matters, is sometimes spelled without the apostrophe as "O Neal," "ONeal," or "Oneal"); yet the fully up-to-date MarylandArtSource.com article gives her name as "Elaine Hamilton O'Neal." She is listed among 2003 donors to Baltimore's Walters Art Museum as "Ms. Elaine H. Oneal" (no apostrophe). All this being said, it does appear that she can be most commonly found named in sources as simply "Elaine Hamilton".

[edit] Problems of chronology in the life of Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal

It is difficult to establish a clear chronology on many points in the life of this artist. For example, the reader may have noticed an apparent discrepancy above: Craven writes that Elaine Hamilton was promoting abstract expressionism as a "universal style" in Pakistan during the 1950s, yet Marylandartsource.com asserts that she did not paint her first purely abstract painting until 1960. This would appear to be a contradiction, yet it must be remembered that Willem De Kooning's paintings of women are not purely abstract either, yet they are considered quintessential examples of abstract expressionism. But it is also possible that one of these two sources is simply in error.

Here is another example of apparent discrepancy: not only does David Craven place Hamilton in Pakistan "during the 1950s", but also Rasheed Araeen (who is Pakistani [1]) explicitly asserts that Hamilton was in Pakistan "at the time of the CIA’s supported military coup in Pakistan in 1957". Yet Marylandartsource.com tells us that after she went to Italy on a Fulbright in 1952 "the award was extended through 1953 and she chose to remain in Italy until 1959." It's very confusing: did she fly off for a brief side trip to Pakistan during her stay in Italy? One can only guess at explanations.

Certainly the exact chronology of events in the life of someone who traveled, worked, and exhibited so widely and frequently as Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal is a daunting task. Even while technically in residence in some particular place - whether Baltimore, New York, Mexico City, Florence, Karachi, Paris, or Birmingham, Alabama - she appears frequently to have been away on far-flung junkets to other places. The Benezit Dictionary does not exaggerate when it calls her a "globetrotter". Moreover, it does not help matters that she was apparently not in the habit of dating her paintings when she signed them (with any of the several versions of her name). In terms of chronology, any future biographer will have quite a job sorting all of this out.

[edit] See also

• Abstract expressionism
• Action painting
• Robert Brackman
• Diego Rivera
• Ismail Gulgee
• Michel Tapié
• Tachisme
• Art Students League of New York
• Fulbright Scholarship
• Mural
• Maryland Institute College of Art
• Catonsville, Maryland
• Baltimore
• Baltimore County, Maryland
• Women in art

[edit] References

[Please note: where possible, these book sources have been externally linked to WorldCat's "Find in a library" service: simply follow the instructions there, using a zip code to find a copy of the book in a library within a given area.]

1. Benezit, E. Dictionary of Artists (Paris : Gründ, 2006) [see Benezit Dictionary of Artists]

2. Craven, David. Abstract expressionism as cultural critique : dissent during the McCarthy period (Cambridge ;New York : Cambridge University Press, 1999) (See page 23 on Elaine Hamilton.) ISBN 0-521-43415-7

3. Dunbier, Lonnie. North American artists : the artists bluebook (Scottsdale, AZ : AskART.com) [quarterly, every 3 months] OCLC 46913212

4. Hamilton, Elaine. Elaine Hamilton "exhibition of paintings" (Karachi, Pakistan, 1960) [solo exhibition catalogue] OCLC 39556032

5. Mitter, Partha. Indian art (Oxford History of Art) (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2001) ISBN 0-19-284221-8

6. Smithsonian Institution, in cooperation with the Institute of International Education. Fulbright painters (New York: Institute of International Education, 1958) [exhibition catalogue] OCLC 3226790

7. Tapié, Michel. Elaine Hamilton: Edizione del Dioscuro (Torino, Italy: International Center of Aesthetic Research), 1969. [Journal article by Michel Tapié; this source and the one following are listed at Marylandartsource.com.]

8. Tapié, Michel. Elaine Hamilton: Exhibition of Paintings (Osaka,Japan: Fujikawa Gallery), April 12-18, 1961. [solo exhibition catalogue with text by Michel Tapié; this source and the one immediately preceding are listed at Marylandartsource.com.]

9. U.S. Centre culturel américain, Paris. Trois américains : Art Brenner, Robert Colescott, Elaine Hamilton.- Exposition à Paris, Centre culturel américain, 26 février-26 mars 1969 [2] [exhibition catalogue in French] (Paris, Centre culturel américain, 1969) OCLC 38695859

[edit] External links

• MarylandArtSource.com [includes several color images of the work]

[Please note: Marylandartsource.com is maintained by and therefore implicitly carries the authority of the following institutions: the Baltimore Museum of Art; Enoch Pratt Free Library; Johns Hopkins University; Maryland Institute College of Art; Maryland Historical Society; Maryland State Department of Education; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Walters Art Museum]

• Pdf file containing (on p. 31) an interview with Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal (interview conducted for MD state forest service history project) on her childhood experience living in a Maryland state forest [author: Robert F. Bailey]
• Auction record, May 2006, Paris [includes a color image]
• [Please note: at artnet.de/artist/424565431/elaine-hamilton.html, a page at a German art auction information site, there is an independent record of the same auction sale, with a color image. However, for some reason, saving this as a live link triggers the Wikipedia spam filter. The spam filter doesn't accept the domain 'artnet.de', though it is a perfectly legitimate art auction information website, equivalent to artprice.com.]
• Askart.com page on Elaine Hamilton
• Pdf version of program for Brookes University (UK) 2004 symposium, "1956: Legacies of Political Change", featuring paper by R. Araeen entitled "The Cold War, Abstract Expressionism and the Presence of the American Artist, Elaine Hamilton, at the Time of the CIA’s Supported Military Coup in Pakistan in 1957
• Website of "Third Text" an online journal of which Rasheed Araeen is founding editor, and which presents "Third world perspectives on contemporary art and culture"
• Artist file on Elaine Hamilton at the Smithsonian American Art Museum ["Folder(s) may include exhibition announcements, newspaper and/or magazine clippings, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations, illustrations, resumes, artist's statements, exhibition catalogs."]
• Artist file listing for Elaine Hamilton at Joseph Curtis Cloane Art Art Library, University of North Carolina: "The Artists File is a collection of art ephemera including exhibition announcements, press releases, newspaper clippings and fliers...."
• Artist file listing for Elaine Hamilton at E. Kirkbride Miller Art Research Library at the Baltimore Museum of Art (How to access the file record: ignore "timed out" message; just click on 'OK'; then type "Elaine Hamilton" in the box and click on 'subject' button.)
• Pages on Rasheed Araeen at the Tate Gallery, London, including bio
• Catonsville Historical Society