Diptych M, 2008
Long Lake Estates
Pat Steir (1938 – 2026) was an America painter and printmaker. She became famous in the 1980s for her “Waterfall” paintings but has been “forgotten and rediscovered” many times over her long career. Her desire to experiment in art—such as painting without a brush—and to relentlessly challenge sexism and stereotypes is part of her legacy.
NY Times: Pat Steir, Painter of Luminous 'Waterfalls,' Dies at 87
“To make the “Waterfalls,” the first of which she created in 1988, Steir stood atop a ladder or, later, in the basket of a cherry-picker, and sent thinned oil paint cascading down the surface of monumental canvases. The resulting works were breathtaking, immersing the viewer in luminous veils of paint that swept across the canvas, seeming to splash back up from the bottom, creating an enveloping sense of tranquility and awe that pushed against the jittery energy of Abstract Expressionism.”
Artforum: Pat Steir, Whose “Waterfalls” Dazzled, Dies at 87
