A contributor to Abstract Expressionism and Color Field

painting, Vivian Springford (b. 1913 Milwaukee, WI; d. 2003

New York, NY) is acclaimed for calligraphic gesture paintings

as well colorful stain paintings featuring glowing, organic

orbs in sensual pastel hues. Springford began her artistic

career as a portraitist and a commercial illustrator during

the 1930s and 1940s while studying at the Art Students

League. In the 1950s, she was drawn into New York Abstract

Expressionist circles, developing friendships with art critic

Harold Rosenberg and artists Pierre Alechinsky, Karel Appel

and Sam Francis.

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In the 1970s Springford moved away from calligraphy in

favor of sheer, fluid washes of paint on a lightly primed

canvas. As in the work of Kenneth Noland, Morris Louis

and the other stain painters, who often used no primer,

the acrylic saturates the canvas. In Springford’s works, the

layers of color radiate out from the center forming halo-

like circles. Utilizing entrancing natural colors, the

abstractions are rich with organic reference.