Oil and collage on cotton canvas, 1971. 750 mm; 29 1/2 inches diameter (tondo). Signed and dated in oil, lower center recto. Titled and inscribed in pencil, verso.
Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection.
Betty Blayton's tondo paintings from this period established her career as an abstract artist. A graduate of Syracuse University in 1959 with a B.A. in fine art, Blayton was a prominent figure in the rising new generation of female artists. In addition to her work in the studio, Blayton was instrumental in opening avenues for African-American artists to exhibit in New York in the 1960s. She organized the Point/Counterpoint exhibitions at Lever House Gallery with Richard Clarke, was one of the founding board members of the Studio Museum in Harlem in 1968, and created the Museum of Modern Art's outreach program, Children's Art Carnival (CAC), in 1968. Today, her works can be found in the collections of the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, all New York.
