The Artistic Journey of Beatrice Mandelman
Born in Newark, United States, Beatrice Mandelman was a painter, graphic designer, printmaker, and lithographer. Her early training began at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art, where she studied under Bernar Gussow. During the years between 1935 and 1942, she was employed by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Arts Project, serving as a muralist and a printmaker. As a member of the Silk Screen Unit, she helped transform the medium into an artistic one. Her work from this period reflected a leftist political bent, which later resurfaced in a series of collages created in the 1960s and 70s.
In 1944, Mandelman arrived in Taos, New Mexico, with her husband, Louis Leon Ribak. She became a key figure among the Taos Moderns, a group of artists including Edward Corbett, Agnes Martin, Oli Sihvonen, and Clay Spohn. Together with Ribak, she founded the Taos Valley Art School and later established Gallery Ribak. Her career was marked by a preference for working in series, completing 33 such series throughout her life.
Style and Legacy
Mandelman's oeuvre consisted mainly of paintings, prints, and collages. Her work ranged from highly abstract pieces to representational subjects such as landscapes, cityscapes, and still lifes. In the 1940s, her paintings were characterized by richly textured surfaces and a subtly modulated, often subdued color palette. As her style evolved, the influence of the New Mexico landscape led to a brighter palette, more geometric forms, and crisply defined forms. Her work is included in several major public collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.
In her final decade, despite battling cancer, she produced the Winter Series. Her legacy is preserved through the Mandelman-Ribak Foundation and the Mandelman-Ribak Collection, which was donated to the University of New Mexico.
