b. 1909 d. 1998
Site Affiliation: The D’Amico House and The Art Barge
Mabel Birckhead D’Amico (1909-1998), taught art for over five decades while concurrently developing a prolific body of artwork. Her approach to living and art-making was unconventional and innovative. Mabel moved through various modes of expression using mostly found objects but incorporated, glass, lights, motors, paint and polyester resin, to name a few. All of these were revisited throughout her lifetime, as simultaneously she would discover and learn new mediums and techniques, her creative exploration never exhausted. Her studio reveals the breadth of her experimentation and the acuity of her eye. She taught and served as the head of Rye High School Art Department, participated in the Advisory Committee of MoMA’s Educational Project, and conducted teacher training programs at The Art Barge. Mabel believed that “art should become for all young people, regardless of their ability, a form of expression which they will use naturally and unselfconsciously throughout their lives.”
Primary Medium: Found Object Construction, Assemblage, Painter, Woodworker, Fused Glass & Mosaic, Photography, Clothes Designer, Architecture, Art Educator
Primary Stylistic Term: Modernist, Found Object Constructionist
Fun Fact: Mabel D’Amico was an enthusiastic and knowledgeable gardener and surrounded herself with houseplants, several of which are still lovingly cared for at the D’Amico Studio & Archive. One in particular, a beautiful five-foot-tall jade plant (Crassula Ovata), Mabel would boast she had it since Roosevelt was president. Victor was born in 1904, Mabel was born in 1909 so he would jokingly ask “which Roosevelt?”
HAHS Affiliations: Husband Victor D’Amico. The D’Amico’s were friends with Jackson Pollack, Willem and Elaine DeKooning, Chaim Gross, Robert Dash, John Little, Jack Lenor Larsen. Victor met Thomas Moran‘s daughter Ruth in the 1940’s.
Recommended Publications: 111 Places in the Hamptons That You Must Not Miss by Wendy Lubovich