Outsider artist painting: Farewell to Old Friends features film stars Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Audrey Hepburn ascending to heaven - by Harriet Young
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  • Farewell To Old Friends

  • 1994
  • Acrylic Gel
  • 32.5" x 38.5"

 
Some of the burdens Harriet Young carried around with her every day were immense almost beyond comprehension, and from our perspective there is a suggestion here of a personal sadness and oppression due to these overwhelming forces which she could not control. Unlike nearly all of Harriet’s known work, Farewell to Old Friends (L to R: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Audrey Hepburn) is devoid of manic energy and comedic hijinx. It is quietly presented, emotionally authentic, and with just a small leap could serve as a rare introspective peek into the soul of the artist. The painting has become a favorite around here and deserves some serious ink.

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Whoever it was who first pointed out that beauty does not mean good-looking gets a special shout-out here.

Below: The secular goings-on of daily life. Drabness. Rigidity. Repetition.

Above: The ethereal, and freedom. Freedom from the silly and constricting laws of physics. Freedom from the cares and sorrows of this world.

The horizontal band containing the marquee spans full edge to edge. But actually there are two marquees, and a reasonable guess as to why this is so might be that the partially obscured inner marquee running frame to frame is dedicated to the scheduled bill of fare, while the one in front is a recent addition announcing a special, final performance. By running edge to edge, the red marquee cuts off the lower and upper worlds from one another, suggesting that the movie theater offers the possibility of temporary respite, perhaps even safe passage, out of a painful, anxiety-filled existence into a carefree world of heavenly possibilities. If only she had provided a door.

But of course this is a speculative reading. We’ll never know if this was the message that the artist, consciously or subconsciously, intended to impart. Harriet Young left us suddenly, on the first day of her 67th year, and when she died, she took it all with her.

Harriet Young (1930-1996) headstone, Montefiore Cemetery, Jenkintown PA