Mildred Lapson Stevens

1923-2014

Lapson was born in New York, she was known as a Painter, teacher, lecturer, writer, screenprinter

Mrs. Stevens, who signs her work with her maiden name, Mildred Lapson, was born in New York and began her art education at the High School of Music and Art in that city, later attending the University of California at Los Angeles and the Jepson Art Institute in Los Angeles, after winning and completing scholarship studies at the Brooklyn Museum of Art School, the American School of Design in New York, and Art Student’s League in New York.

Besides winning numerous awards, being represented in ‘Who’s Who in American Women’ and ‘Who’s Who in American Art’ her activities also included free lance commercial art work, fashion illustration, textile designing and brochure designing, and layouts for the Columbia Broadcasting System. She is now an art instructor at Pasadena City College.

Frode Dann, well-known art critic, says of Mrs. Stevens, ‘Miss Lapson’s technical dexterity is well known, but her venture into satirical figure paintings reveals a new aspect of her artistic versatility. If a person draws well, thinks much, and feels keenly, and if a sharp sense of humor is combined with sharp observation, in such a person something extraordinary is bound to happen. Such painting, no matter what one’s aesthetic persuasion might be, cannot fail to register acclaim for their subtle satire. Her landscapes stand out by their abstract discipline, and her serious still lifes disclose deep reverence and symbolic meaning.’”

Additional Biographical information:

Mildred Lapson is listed in the International Dictionary of Biographies, London, England; Who's Who of AmericanArt, '59ff Library of Congress Card No.36-27014: Who's Who of American Women, '60ff Library of Congress card No.58-13264; Who's Who of the West, '67ff Library of Congress card No.49-48186.

In addition to her works shown in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY; the Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum, Hartford, CT; Los Angeles County Museum, CA; the Frye museum, Seattle, WA; and Plymouth Hall Museum, Plymouth, MA to name a few among over fifty major museums and galleries across the country, Lapson's works are also included in numerous private and corporate collections in the United States and abroad, and are included in the Permanent Collection and Archives of the Pasadena Museum of History, Pasadena CA; the Permanent Collection and Archives of the Colchester Historical Society, Colchester, CT; the Permanent Collection and Archives of the Monrovia Historical Museum, Monrovia, CA; the Permanent Collection and Archives of California's State Theater; the Pasadena Playhouse; the Archives of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; and the Permanent Collection in Perpetuity of the Ellis Island Museum, at Statue of Liberty Island, NY.

Under the auspices of the U.S. Dept of Justice and Immigration, Lapson's paintings of immigration subjects toured the United States in all the Presidential Libraries and State museums for three years in celebration of the United States Centennial. On the west coast they were shown in Seattle, WA; Los Angeles, CA; in the Museum of Natural History; and the Ronald Reagan Library.

A teacher of Fine Arts for the California Board of Education for over five decades, she pioneered Fine Art interest and art programs throughout Southern California. Lapson introducing extended day and adult education programs in several school districts including Pasadena City College in Pasadena and in San Diego. In addition, she founded the first Monrovia Annual Festival of Art in 1963. She continues to do guest lectures, critiques and to jury Art Competitions throughout the U.S. including Catalina Island and Hawaii.

During Lapson's early painting career, she dropped her first name from her signature. In a male dominated world of art, she felt that "art should be judged on the merit and quality of the work, not on the gender of its creator". By keeping her signature gender-anonymous, her work could compete fairly in the art world.

While her subjects are varied, her passion and dedication to her art is forceful and communicative. Her extensive research and sensitive drawings attest to her knowledge and skill with the human form, with a keen of 'simpatico' to humanity. Her sense of humor is also evident in her satirical work.

Lapson says, "...As with the architecture of all things, including nature's or artists' whimsical improvisations, nothing is lasting without firm footing." Feeling empathy for what she terms as "the precious jewels of life", she adds, "They create prisms of brilliance on the facets of life and intensify life's forms, but it also makes me aware of the dimensions of the dark. It is impossible for me to feel one without the other. My approach to painting is with primary and serious respect to the subject. It is my hope that its essence will communicate to those who will share my feelings. I lean on academic structure for dynamic support, regardless of my improvisations". Although her works and subject matter range broadly, and would technically be classified as Impressionistic, she likes to be identified as a "Contemporary Communicator."