Alice Baber

An Artist's Triumph Over Tragedy

Gail Levin

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9798897100415
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art General

The definitive biography of abstract artist Alice Baber, whose luminous and beloved works took the world by storm.

From one of the most acclaimed art biographers writing today comes the surprising life of Alice Baber, who produced exquisite abstract paintings of vibrantly colored shapes that created an illusion of floating light. Heralded as an “artist of lyrical abstractions,” Baber’s paintings had already entered the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan, the Guggenheim, and the Whitney at the time of her premature death at just fifty-four. How could such an accomplished and visionary artist then fall into near obscurity?

In Alice Baber, the artist’s fascinating story is finally revealed, despite concerted efforts to consign her to oblivion. Levin's book is a vital corrective to the history of American art and a thrilling opportunity for the next generation experience Baber anew. Vividly written and richly detailed, we journey through her rural upbringing to her years exhibiting around the world and experience the heady mid-century art world in all its glory.

Levin’s dynamic prose brings to life this synesthetic artist who links color to both movement and sound. We witness Baber's talent and ambition, her tenacity and charm, and learn how her feminist activism and her work as a curator helped other artists. Alice Baber: An Artist's Triumph Over Tragedy is an insightful and stunning portrait that resurrects a central figure in modern art.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Taking the Plunge: New York City (1951–1954)
• Chapter 2: The Scene: Cedar Bar to the Club (1953–1958)
• Chapter 3: Finding a Partner (1958)
• Chapter 4: First Solo Show (1958)
• Chapter 5: Flashback to Child of Tragic Vision (1928–1946)
• Chapter 6: Further Education in Art (1946–1951)
• Chapter 7: Return to France (1959–1962)
• Chapter 8: Literary Links (1963)
• Chapter 9: First Adventures in Asia (1964–1965)
• Chapter 10: Finding a New York Dealer (1965–1966)
• Chapter 11: Questions of Identity (1966–1968)
• Chapter 12: Feminist Imagery and Activism (1969–1973)
• Chapter 13: Nomadic Challenges (1973–1975)
• Chapter 14: Color Hunger: Appetite for Latin America (1975–1977)
• Chapter 15: Recognition, Then Becoming Very Gray (1977–1982)
• Alice Baber: Selected Public Collections
• Dramatis Personae
• Photographs
• Appendixes: Published Essays
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Notes
• Index
• List of Black-and-White Illustrations in the Text
• Copyright