Joyce Treiman, one of the finest American painters ofthe late twentieth century, was also one of the mostindividualistic, combining virtuosic draftsmanship andexpressive brushwork with a lifelong devotion to paint-ing the human figure in images that are direct, viscer-al, and sensuous. As author Theodore F. Wolff writes:"On the surface, Treiman was a traditionalist. In actual-ity, she was a fiercely independent, even iconoclasticartist of great range and abilities Her work rangedfrom the impishly perverse and humorously paradoxi-cal to the brilliant and profound."
The qualities that characterize Treiman's maturework are direct, uncompromising representationalism;an old-master attitude toward the handling of paint; asubtle but pervasive undercurrent of both irony andcompassion; vibrant color and fluid brushwork; com-positional complexity; and a passion for telling storiesin paint.
