Woman, View, and Small Square Mirror

1987

Woman, View, and Small Square Mirror, 1987. Joy Laville (American, 1923–2018). Pastel; sheet: 50.2 x 69.8 cm (19 3/4 x 27 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Kay Kujala Deaux 2020.239 The English-born artist Joy Laville relocated to Mexico in 1956 to study art and spent the remainder of her career working there. Beginning in the 1970s, she began to develop her signature style, seen in this work, which focused on introspective images of female figures often rendered abstractly and in a restrained pale palette. Here, Laville used thinly applied pastel—her preferred medium at the time—to produce an enigmatic but provocative depiction of women. Joy Laville originally moved to Mexico because the inexpensive cost of living allowed her to pursue an artistic career.