THE 1960'S - THE PERIOD OF MAJOR POETICAL PAINTINGS
Having a Michael West work from the 1960's decade is like owning a piece of history. She has created gestural works related to world events including the Viet Nam War and the Kennedy Assasination. She has created Homages to people who were important to her such as Hans Hofmann and Frank O'Hara. Michael West loved film and has made it an important part of her work. Many of her paintings are based on film such as Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, The Night of the Iguana, America America, Algeria, Chappaqua, and Z. These are large and quite prominent Abstract Expressionist works. Her love of the film medium is partly due to the fact that her ex-husband, Francis Lee, was a major avant-garde filmaker . Lee was a combat photographer in WWII and was reknown for his film of the Normandy invasion. He was also on staff of Robert Motherwell's important publication of 1948, Possibilities. Francis Lee became an avant-garde filmaker whose works have been shown at MOMA and other film archives. He was a good friend of the exiled Surrealists and had the largest loft in Manhattan and hosted many parties for them while they were in NY City.
POETIC STRUCTURE DETAIL
POETIC STRUCTURE, 1960'S. 72" X 48".
VETERANS DAY (STUDY: FORM). 1962. Oil on Canvas. 83.5" X 50". (7' 5" X 4')
DETAIL OF VETERANS DAY.
DETAIL OF VETERANS DAY.
DETAIL OF VETERANS DAY.
DETAIL OF VETERANS DAY.
Algeria, 1962. 50x64.
