Still Light:
IRMA CAVAT
Art Retrospective 2024

On view July to September.

Irma Cavat (1925-2020), a native New Yorker, studied at the New School for Social Research and became a professional artist in her early twenties. She apprenticed with Ukrainian sculptor, Alexander Archipenko, and modeled for surrealist artist Rene Magritte. As a young artist, she became part of the Abstract Expressionist group, where she developed friendships with Elaine and Willem De Kooning, Jackson Pollack, Larry Rivers, and Lee Bontecou. She met Picasso at her solo show in Paris, who praised her rare talents as an artist. Rumor has it that he then visited Irma in Santa Barbara incognito.

 

As a twice-awarded Fulbright Award recipient, Cavat resided in Rome from 1955-1964, where her daughters, Karina and Nika were born. In 1963, Cavat then moved to Santa Barbara, CA, eventually becoming a tenured Professor of Art at UCSB from 1965-2000. In 1995, in collaboration with landscape architect, Isabelle Greene and Walter Kohn, a Nobel laureate in theoretical physics, Cavat helped create the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Sadako Peace Garden on the 50th anniversary of the Hiroshima tragedy.

 

Cavat lived for extended periods of time in Paris, Provence, Athens, and London. An avid traveler, she also journeyed to the open markets of Morocco, Tiananmen Square, the Taj Mahal, and throughout parts of Turkey, Japan, Hungary, and Russia. Each country she visited offered bountiful inspiration for her paintings. She generously donated her art to charities, juried art competitions, and in all regards gave of her time and expertise in the service of others. This retrospective is the largest offering of Cavat’s art in over sixty years.

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Shortly after her passing, her daughter, writer-educator Nika directed and produced a 15-minute documentary about her life.  CLICK BUTTON BELOW.