Untitled

ClassificationsPaintings-watercolors

Artist Ann R. Cullen (American, 1928 - 2018)

Date1989

Made AtCalifornia, United States, North America

MediumWatercolor on paper

Dimensions17 1/4 × 14 1/8 in. (43.8 × 35.9 cm)
Framed (Oval Frame): 25 × 21 1/4 × 1 1/8 in. (63.5 × 54 × 2.9 cm)

Credit LineAnn and Bill Cullen Memorial Collection

Object number2018.6.50

DescriptionAnn Cullen, the collector of this donation, was herself an artist of some skill. She worked primarily as an actress and model but earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art at USC in the late 1940s. Over the course of her life she painted and drew as a hobby. In large part due to her interest in art, she developed personal relationships with many of the artists she collected. Despite the obvious quality of her work, Ann always felt that she was not a talented artist, and as a result kept her paintings to herself in the drawers of her studio desk. Of all the mediums she worked in, Ann was most talented as a watercolorist. This self-portrait with her husband Bill Cullen shows the interesting application of bathing the subject in light—a technique traditionally used in the landscapes of many mid 20th Century’s California Scene painters. Small details such as the shadow of Bill’s glasses stretching across his face illustrate Ann’s ability.

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