<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/69530751_1670634278455823_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Above: Avital Sagalyn, painting in Otis, Mass., in the mid-1950s, with her niece.</strong>
</div>
<div>Other photos pictured from left, both ink on paper, ca. 1940s: Abstract textile design; Boats at Provincetown Harbor.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Avital Sagalyn has been called an "undiscovered" great painter among 20th century artists. Despite gaining early notoriety in New York and Paris, she chose to keep her artworks largely private.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Until now. <a href="https://fac.umass.edu/UMCA/Online/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The University Museum of Contemporary Art</a> in Amherst, Mass., held Avital's first <a href="https://fac.umass.edu/UMCA/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=Exploration&amp;BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">solo art exhibition</a> from October to December 2019, favorably reviewed by the <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/art/2019/10/10/felt-wasn-good-enough-age-massachusetts-artist-finally-ready-for-her-first-solo-show/xkJ3tHicnDPNSm6s5KyQzK/story.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Boston Globe</a> . The curated retrospective featured 57 of her artworks dating back to the 1940s, including dozens that required professional restoration and framing. Thanks to your generous support through GoFundMe and other venues, Avital was able to defray her own retirement expenditures to foot restoration and framing costs for this public exhibition.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Avital's family published a museum-quality exhibition catalogue, available for purchase online at Blurb.com. The 106-page book, "Avital Sagalyn: <a href="https://www.blurb.com/b/9653938-avital-sagalyn-a-life-of-exploration" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A Life of Exploration</a> ," features full-color images of all paintings, drawings, sculptures and textile designs in the 2019 exhibition, plus much additional content: Related pieces not yet shown publicly; essays about Avital's works, personal journey and vision as an artist; archival photos of her during the years covered by the retrospective; a full index of her catalogued works, and much more.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Pieces in the museum show included works from her early years as a <a href="https://cooper.edu/art" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cooper Union</a> art student, and as one of the first women to win a <a href="https://www.cies.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fulbright Scholarship</a> to study painting in Paris in 1949.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Many of Avital's other best artworks could not even be considered for this exhibition, because of the high cost of restoration and framing.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Just months after her first solo museum exhibition, Avital passed away in May 2020. The Boston Globe published a poignant<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/31/metro/avital-sagalyn-artist-whose-first-solo-show-was-just-months-ago-dies-95/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">obituary</a> of an artist on the precipice of wider renown so late in life. Yet with your support, Avital's family could have many more of her decades-old works on paper and canvas restored and prepared for future exhibit. Plans are in the making for other shows, where we hope that yet more breathtaking portfolio pieces can be debuted publicly.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This lifelong artist's master works include <a href="https://www.avitalsagalyn.com/teen-years-and-world-war-ii-early-1940s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">haunting canvases</a> painted as a teenage refugee in New York during World War II; the <a href="https://www.avitalsagalyn.com/provincetown-1-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wharfs of Provincetown</a> , Mass., reduced to an exquisite cacophony of ink strokes during her studies at Cooper Union; the post-war <a href="https://www.avitalsagalyn.com/new-new-notre-dame" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Notre Dame</a> cathedral veiled by a Parisian haze; colorful cubist still lifes of <a href="https://www.avitalsagalyn.com/mannequins-at-3-rue-st-honore" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fashion mannequins</a> populating her Paris flat, which doubled as a couture fashion atelier during her Fulbright years; and, in the 1950s, <a href="https://www.avitalsagalyn.com/mosques-in-israel" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mosques in Israel</a> rendered black and white, saturated by blinding sun and dark shadow.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>See these and hundreds of other pieces, along with videos of Avital discussing her art, on her website: avitalsagalyn.com
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Avital's fascinating personal history spanned three continents. She was born to Russian émigré parents; Avital's maternal uncle in St. Petersburg was a nationally known poet. Avital spent most of her youth in Brussels. In 1940, Avital's family fled the Nazi invasion. After a year-long journey through France, Spain and Portugal, they settled in New York City.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In high school, Avital was selected to study at the Museum of Modern Art (<a href="https://www.moma.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MOMA</a> ). She graduated from Cooper Union in 1946 and subsequently painted in Paris for three years. There she befriended some of the preeminent artists of the time, among them Manuel Ángeles Ortiz, Pablo Picasso and Constantin Brâncusi.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Avital returned to a male-dominated “<a href="https://www.artsy.net/gene/new-york-school" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York School</a> ” art scene in the 1950s. Among her circle were abstract expressionist painters whose works are also now held in museum collections around the globe, including Willem de Kooning and Richard Pousette-Dart. Perhaps Avital's greatest artistic kinship at this time was with her college-years friend Reuben Tam, a native Hawaiian painter and poet living in New York.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Gallery owners in Paris and NYC offered Avital exhibitions but she declined, seeking to avoid the possibility that commercialization would affect her artistic vision and independence. The internet later allowed Avital to share her artwork on her own terms. (Check out Avital's midcentury textile designs and art reproductions on <a href="https://shopvida.com/collections/avital-sagalyn-1?rfsn=2649388.ff5429&amp;utm_source=refersion&amp;utm_medium=affiliate&amp;utm_campaign=2649388.ff5429" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wearable art and notecards</a> at ShopVIDA.com. Like your contribution to GoFundMe, all proceeds from Avital-designed giftware and cards, as well as from her <a href="https://www.blurb.com/b/9653938-avital-sagalyn-a-life-of-exploration" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">exhibition catalogue</a>, underwrite the preservation of her original artworks.)
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The renowned MacDowell Colony artists' retreat in New Hampshire made Avital a resident fellow in 1952. It was here that Avital embarked on her exuberant <a href="https://www.avitalsagalyn.com/macdowell-colony-1952" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">still lifes with jugs</a>, among other pieces. A number of these <a href="https://www.pulpholyoke.com/avital-sagalyn-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">jug studies</a> -- along with other works including <a href="https://www.pulpholyoke.com/avital-sagalyn" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Casey Key seashells</a> , dead birds and Provincetown pieces -- are now available for purchase at the <a href="https://www.pulpholyoke.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PULP Holyoke</a> art gallery.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Avital taught painting and sculpture for children at MOMA in the 1950s-60s. In 1968, Avital moved with her young family to Amherst, Mass., where she served on a panel that hired Hugh Davies as the first director of the UMASS University Gallery and on another panel to select art for its collection. In a <a href="https://www.avitalsagalyn.com/a-conversation-with-hugh-davies" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">video interview</a> , Davies recently termed Avital's works as "on a par with a lot of the very best artists making work both in Paris and in New York" in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>"She was breaking new ground in her atmospheric paintings that combined cubism with lessons learned ... from the impressionists," said Davies, who went on to a 33-year career as director and CEO of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. "It was a kind of abstraction that was always rooted in the real world ... in a way that was very refined and very appealing."
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Now in the wake of Avital's first solo museum exhibition, the breadth and depth of her portfolio remain a largely unexplored treasure. The charitable gifts that allowed more than a dozen of her decaying paintings and drawings to be professionally restored have also laid the groundwork for <a href="https://www.avitalsagalyn.com/meet-avital-the-artist" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fresh interest</a> in Avital's newly discovered legacy, hidden away for decades. Your generosity now will allow Avital's family to share yet more of her extraordinary creative range, in the form of original artworks, directly with the public.
</div>

Nancy Lin

Anonymous

Bruce and Greta Wilcox

Ghada Mashamoun

Laurie Sagalyn

Debra Seltzer

Marcia Swords

Vincent Mariano

Jon Crowell

Chris Alexander

Emily Carpeaux 

Avital Exhibition Campaign

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Avital Exhibition Campaign

Still $25,014 to go. Help us build momentum.