Untitled

Seeking what she described as “mental therapy” after the death of her husband, Pauline Simon began painting in 1964 at the age of seventy. She became involved with the Hyde Park Art Center, which had previously launched the careers of the Chicago Imagists. The Imagists, who appreciated the creative energy of self-taught artists like Simon, identified similarities between Simon’s vivid figurative imagery and their own work. They collected and promoted her paintings, culminating in a solo exhibition for Simon in 1974 at the Hyde Park Art Center that was met with rave reviews. This painting, characteristic of much of Simon’s work, depicts simplified figures over a flat and heavily patterned background.