Dorothy Sklar
Leave a commentAugust 4, 2012 by Art
The painting of a Mexican vendor by Dorothy Sklar is oil on canvas, it measures 36×24
inches . It is part of the F.A.M collection of the American art.
In 1992 I was introduced to Dorothy Sklar through another art dealer friend. The art dealer said Dorothy’s work was very high quality and reasonably priced. After meeting with Dorothy we arranged for me to visit her home and studio in Fairfax , Los Angles, California . It was difficult for me to determine her age. She appeared to take very good care of her physical appearance and was wearing a black wig. I asked her out of curiosity about her age, and her answer was, “A woman who admits to her age will admit to anything.” What a clever way to avoid answering my question. Even though Dorothy settled in Los Angeles in the early 1930′s she still retained a heavy New York- accent. During my initial and subsequent visits with Dorothy she was extremely hospitality. She had food prepared for me to eat and expresses concern that I needed to take good care of myself after a six hour drive to her residence. I refer to Dorothy as Mother Sklar
Dorothy studied with Millard Sheets and Don Kingman, both important California water-colorists in the 1930′s.
Her art speaks of urban life in East Los Angeles . Mother Sklar painted on location, sitting in the rear seat of her car while painting watercolors of genre scenes of people in public places. After studying at Chouinard Art Institute Dorothy, as many California artists at the time, worked for Walt Disney during her early artistic career. In her painting The Mexican Vendor Dorothy worked in the Latin American style of that period. This painting is different from any of her previous paintings. I personally found this painting to portray strong imagery and style that would compliment the art in the Farhat Art Museum collection.
Dorothy Sklar was a member of the Laguna Beach California Watercolor Society and Women Painters of the West. She exhibited at the Santa Cruz Art League, Alabama Watercolor Society, Delgado Museum 1944-1946, and the Butler Art Institute 1945 to 1955.
American Art 