ILLINOIS HISTORICAL ART PROJECT
MAE SIBYL LARSEN
MAE SYBIL LARSEN was born in Chicago and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her outstanding teachers were John Sloan, Boris Anisfeld and Karl Buehr. She has painted in New York, Washington and Santa Fe, and is a member of the All-Illinois Society of Artists, the Illinois Academy of Fine Arts, the Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists and the Society of Independent Artists of New York. Her work has been shown in the exhibitions of these organizations, also in the Whitney Studio Club of New York and the Art Museum in .Santa Fe. She is represented in the permanent collection of the All-Illinois Society of Artists, and her paintings have been commented upon in the Chicago Evening Post and the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Subject matter plays an important part in my painting as it furnishes the incentive. It is the urge, which the artist feels to paint certain subjects, that is transmitted to the observer; and it is that desire and sincerity of intention which in turn is felt by the onlooker. Without which a painting lacks interest. Volume is an essential element if one is not dealing with pure design or abstractions, and can be best indicated through the use of color. In the realm of realism, color contributes to the illusion of distance and the third dimension and greatly helps form. There are a number of ways of expressing nature and ideas. The abstract in art falls within the scope of design and appeals to the observer accordingly as his imaginative powers have been developed. Though I, like everyone, am affected by surroundings, I feel that my work is a personal expression. An artist is attracted to the qualities and elements that seem a part of him and he gives form to them by means of his creative ability. Works of art should lift one spiritually above the ordinary humdrum of life and as such are a contribution to society. Each individual artist strives in his own personal manner to contribute that bit of beauty which will give joy and pleasure to others. Though I am not consciously influenced by others, I am naturally attracted to those paintings which strike a responsive chord in me. Not having travelled abroad, I have studied mainly, American paintings, especially, the works of George Bellows, John Sloan, Eugene Speicher and Robert Henri. Of the European painters I have felt the greatest joy at seeing the works of Renoir and Derain. Whether my work is an expression of the present age should be left to others to decide. Being of Nordic descent, that is, of a race which, even under the stress of most intense emotions, maintains a quiet and calm exterior, may account for the more or less quiet tones and treatment in my paintings. Galleries or the art market have not influenced the production of my work, and criticism is weighed and used or rejected after I decide whether it will help or hinder my original idea. Mae Sibyl Larsen.