Uncle Clarence's Three Wives
Artist:
Marilyn Lanfear
(American, 1930 - 2020)
Date: ca. 2005-2007
Place made:San Antonio, Texas, United States
Dimensions:
95 1/2 × 53 in. (242.6 × 134.6 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Marilyn Lanfear
Object number: 2016.33.3.2.a-c
Label Text
From left:
Aunt Billie (Billie Patterson Moore died in the school explosion in New London, Texas)
Aunt Bea (Laurelis Bessie Nix Moore the mother of my cousins began 45 years of marriage in Cutoff, Louisiana)
Aunt Gerry (Gerry Moore Moore in the course of a brief marriage during WWII lived in Paris, Texas)
Rendered meticulously in vintage mother-of-pearl buttons are portraits of the artist’s three aunts commemorated in life size. Lanfear’s use of buttons suggests domesticity and an activity traditionally associated with women (sewing). Comprised of thousands of tiny buttons, which Lanfear collected over many years, the images recall early twentieth-century pointilism, for which painters used small dots to create an image. The dotted composition also calls to mind the pixels that constitute digital images today.
In this collaborative project, Lanfear was assisted by thirty-seven volunteers who, over two years, sorted, washed, and helped to sew the buttons, underscoring the themes of community and family displayed in the work.
(Lana Meador, Label Text 2018)
Uncle Clarence’s Three Wives
Sewing Assistants
Sandy Arispe
Vola Bridges
Kathy Brillson
Lark Caldwell
Eve Chambers
Bill Cogburn
Dayna de Hoyas
Nancy Dyer
Gene Elder
Carolyn Elliot
Bill Graf
Jo Anne Johnson
Loretta Johnson
Betty Keith
Cheryl Lawry
Kriss Helena Hughes
Debra Martin
Nicole Mcleod
Janet McDaniel
Jan Miller
Dolly Miller
Mary Raley
Peggy Raley
Libby Ryan
Priscilla Reyna-Ovalie
Adrien Ryder
Yvonne Schultz
Dianne Simpson
Katy Simpson
Deenie Tillman
Mary Weed
Sharon Kay Welkey
Sharron Welch
Nita Welch
Jessie Welch
Georgia Williamson
Georgia Zwartjes
Aunt Billie (Billie Patterson Moore died in the school explosion in New London, Texas)
Aunt Bea (Laurelis Bessie Nix Moore the mother of my cousins began 45 years of marriage in Cutoff, Louisiana)
Aunt Gerry (Gerry Moore Moore in the course of a brief marriage during WWII lived in Paris, Texas)
Rendered meticulously in vintage mother-of-pearl buttons are portraits of the artist’s three aunts commemorated in life size. Lanfear’s use of buttons suggests domesticity and an activity traditionally associated with women (sewing). Comprised of thousands of tiny buttons, which Lanfear collected over many years, the images recall early twentieth-century pointilism, for which painters used small dots to create an image. The dotted composition also calls to mind the pixels that constitute digital images today.
In this collaborative project, Lanfear was assisted by thirty-seven volunteers who, over two years, sorted, washed, and helped to sew the buttons, underscoring the themes of community and family displayed in the work.
(Lana Meador, Label Text 2018)
Uncle Clarence’s Three Wives
Sewing Assistants
Sandy Arispe
Vola Bridges
Kathy Brillson
Lark Caldwell
Eve Chambers
Bill Cogburn
Dayna de Hoyas
Nancy Dyer
Gene Elder
Carolyn Elliot
Bill Graf
Jo Anne Johnson
Loretta Johnson
Betty Keith
Cheryl Lawry
Kriss Helena Hughes
Debra Martin
Nicole Mcleod
Janet McDaniel
Jan Miller
Dolly Miller
Mary Raley
Peggy Raley
Libby Ryan
Priscilla Reyna-Ovalie
Adrien Ryder
Yvonne Schultz
Dianne Simpson
Katy Simpson
Deenie Tillman
Mary Weed
Sharon Kay Welkey
Sharron Welch
Nita Welch
Jessie Welch
Georgia Williamson
Georgia Zwartjes
Not on view
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
