— SOME SERIOUS LIVING —
THE ART OF DORIS B WRIGHT
Eclectic in her tastes. Fearless in her exploration. Generous with her knowledge. And always with joie de vivre that kept her moving forward, active and engaged, up to the moment of her unexpected death on September 19, 2019.
Doris B Wright pursued the limits of art, from her early life in Fort Worth, Texas, through long-time study and work in Manhattan, and ultimately to her various studios in Rochester, New York.
By the age of 20, she and her younger sister had each saved $1,000 to pursue their dreams of art and theater in the big city. Doris and Pat moved to New York City on October 6, 1946 to study in their respective fields. Their first apartment was at Madison and 76th, an address to die for — but as two unsophisticated 20- and 19-year old Texas girls, they didn’t even know. Doris studied painting and fashion illustration at the Art Student’s League. As she wrote later:
“There, in New York City, on Madison Ave, at our chosen schools, our education began, and what a wonderful time we had. We loved NYC, everything about it, Central Park, Fifth Ave, the El, the organ grinder with his monkey, the Staten Island Ferry. If we weren’t going to a movie or a play or a museum, we were walking from one end of the island to the other.”
Doris worked in fashion illustration to pay the rent, but her art endeavors went through many phases over the years: oil painting, watercolor, woodcuts, silkscreen, pastel, pencil, charcoal, lithography, calligraphy, computer art, acrylic. And always mixed media — following the song of each piece to its conclusion, no matter what additional processes were needed.
Her husband, Ray Wright, supported her art, and she supported his music, designing album covers, creating concert posters, lettering logos and more. After Ray’s death in 1990, Doris created a series of paintings incorporating parts of Ray’s musical scores into the art, as she sought an outlet for her fractured emotional state.
As Doris’s son, I learned about art at her knee. I created pieces from a young age, beginning with line illustrations, and then when I was old enough, woodblock carving, and so on. Although Doris and Ray never made me take private art lessons as they did music lessons, the lessons she taught me about form and creative development are still at the core of my understanding of art and aesthetics.
After her death, I conceived a desire to document the wide-ranging nature of her art. The galleries in the Art section below explore a portion of her work, showcasing her eclectic tastes, fearless exploration, and constant self-renewal as she moved from one artform to the next.
And now without further ado — the art of Doris B Wright.
Click on the galleries below to explore categories of Doris’s art. Click on the individual art pieces to get to the largest view.
¶ Fine art prints of the art of Doris B Wright are available for purchase on canvas or paper. Due to the wide range of sizes and the unique proportions of many of the pieces, we ask that you submit an inquiry, and we will respond with the options for the particular pieces. In some cases, original art pieces are also available, and can be purchased on request.
