Brenda Zlamany's Daily Watercolor Portraits Counterbalance Yale's Historical Commission
Brenda Zlamany is engaged in a year-long initiative called "Watercolor Portrait a Day" from her studio in Williamsburg, where she paints diverse subjects and shares daily updates on Facebook and Instagram. In contrast, she is also working on a commissioned oil painting for the Yale Women Faculty Forum, depicting the first seven women who earned PhDs from Yale in 1894 for display at Sterling Memorial Library. This historical portrait demands significant research, which Zlamany balances with her ongoing project. Utilizing a camera lucida from the late 1980s, she merges traditional methods with modern techniques. Her work has influenced her daughter Oona, and Zlamany highlights the importance of relationships in her art. As of late November 2015, she has completed over 200 portraits and is eager to explore future subjects.
Key facts
- Brenda Zlamany's "Watercolor Portrait a Day" project runs for a year from her Williamsburg studio.
- Each portrait session ends with a photo posted on Facebook and Instagram, generating hundreds of likes and comments.
- Zlamany is simultaneously painting a commissioned oil portrait for Yale Women Faculty Forum of seven women who were the first to receive PhDs from Yale in 1894.
- The Yale portrait will hang in Sterling Memorial Library and uses surrogate models due to insufficient reference photos.
- Zlamany received a Fulbright grant in 2011 to paint 888 watercolor portraits in Taiwan, resulting in 12 paintings of aboriginal teenage boys.
- She uses a camera lucida for speed, acquired from Maurice Payne in David Hockney's studio in the late 1980s.
- Her portrait subjects have included Chuck Close, David Hockney, Glenn Ligon, Alex Katz, James Siena, and Leonardo Drew.
- The studio visit took place in late November 2015, with the daily portrait count in the low 200s.
Entities
Artists
- Brenda Zlamany
- Rembrandt
- Holbein
- Chuck Close
- David Hockney
- Glenn Ligon
- Alex Katz
- James Siena
- Leonardo Drew
- Fred Wilson
- Dawoud Bey
- Jim Dine
- Allan Shestack
- Maurice Payne
- Mary Jones
Institutions
- Yale Women Faculty Forum
- Yale University Art Gallery
- Educational Center for the Arts
- Yale College Before College Program
- San Francisco Art Institute
- Sterling Memorial Library
- Fulbright
Locations
- Williamsburg
- Taiwan
- New Haven
- San Francisco
- Yale