Over time, her warm acquaintances transcended cultural origins and generations. During her early years in France, she was close to the American artists Sam Francis, Joan Mitchell, Janice Biala, Norman Bluhm, Jules Olitski, Al Held, and Kimber Smith, as well as the Canadian painter Jean-Paul Riopelle. In a 1991 interview with Catherine Lawless, a philosopher friend, she remarked, “I’m between two worlds, and I am happy to experience that gap.” Although a fixture in the Paris art world, she never fancied herself French, speaking the language fluently but with an American accent. Courtesy Shirley Jaffe Estate and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels/©Adagp, Paris 2022Ī painter above all else, originally trained at the Cooper Union in New York and the Phillips Art School in Washington, DC, Jaffe lived austerely for nearly fifty years in a well-lit, modest-size, fifth-floor studio in an 18th-century walk-up building on the rue Saint-Victor in the Latin Quarter. Shirley Jaffe: Crazy Jane at Appomattox, 1956, oil on canvas, approx. Calm, crisp, and purposeful, she received French commissions and grants, made enough sales to get by, and led the low-key daily life she wanted. By living in the smaller and more welcoming Parisian milieu, she was able to exhibit consistently in galleries and then museums-probably more than she would have in midcentury New York, with its notoriously chauvinistic art scene. Jaffe enjoyed both the calm, gray evenness of Paris and, on her occasional visits back, the jostling collage of New York. Being foreign (and thus always a bit exotic) upended expectations and made you stand out. Yet to a reserved, hard-working woman like Jaffe, the city offered major compensations: in Paris you could be admired for the quality of your thoughts and the visual integrity of your art. She had periods of real financial hardship, when she feared losing her apartment and had to obtain art supplies on credit.
Not that life there was always easy for her.
But for Jaffe, although she periodically considered moving back to New York, residing permanently in Paris turned out to be a good choice, both personally and professionally. Of course, cheap is not free, and circumstances in a country where the local artists could be unwelcoming, compatriots competitive, and the language a constant challenge often made for short stays. Richard Taittinger Gallery Now Reps Nassos Daphnis Estate, Plans ShowĪ Color for Our Times: "Safety Orange" Considers a Curious Hue
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