THE PEN MEEKER THAN HISTORY

Ignored by the press during much of her lifetime the American expatriate artist Faun Roberts enjoyed a late surge of interest shortly before she died.

Mild reviews of her irregular exhibitions began to appear in small independent publications in the late 20's. Critics were fair but patronizing, always pointing out that the artist was a woman.

The implication was, of course, that though the work wasn't as intellectually demanding as Braque's or as inventive as Picasso's or as colorful as Matisse's or as symbolic as Sérusier's it was fairly impressive considering the artist's gender. 

Works by Matisse and Picasso from 1927

The fact that Roberts' work had almost no affinity with these better known men never prevented the press from making sloppy generalizations and misleading comparisons.

Works by Faun Roberts from 1927

Though she lived and worked in Paris her work was not unknown in the United States. In 1928 she was included in the now infamous Terminus/Dormer exhibition in what was then the Brooklyn Navy Yard. For many it was the first exposure to French Modernist painting and the critical reception was rather mixed.

Roberts exhibited the enormous L'adorer à genoux, a work now in the collection of Count Altun de Picar.

L'adorer à genoux, oil on linen, Faun Roberts, 1926

It's worth noting that many of the artists received less than glowing reviews, nonetheless it seems that Roberts bore the brunt of some of the more personal and mean-spirited attacks.

Here is what noted arts columnist Winslow Pethawthorn wrote for the The Herald:

"Lapping the modernist milk like an obedient Siamese, it never seems to occur to the American expatriate that her sources had gone sour. Continental corruption can take many forms. In her case, absinthe would have been the safer course. Perhaps she should lose her brushes, find a husband and leave the beastly business of easel painting to the boys."