Labors of Love

Art Business News, August, 2000 by Vanessa Silberman

Charm and elegance dominate the work of Edna Hibel--expect no less from the artist herself.

Internationally renowned artist Edna Hibel has been referred to as many things, including `hippie grandmother' `the heart and conscience of America' and `great humanitarian.' But after meeting her, one can't help but also think of `enchanting storyteller.' Hibel is full of stories--in fact a recently published book, Edna Hibel: Stories That Warm the Heart, demonstrates this quite well.

But what else could you expect from an 83 year-old artist who has traveled the world exhibiting her art, meeting heads-of-state and receiving countless honors and words of praise in the process? Her paintings have appeared in more than 20 countries and hang in the permanent collections of venerable institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Harvard University; the Phoenix Art Museum; and the United Nations Headquarters to name a few. Her many honors include the Medal of Honor and Citation from Pope John Paul II and the Humanitarian for Health Award from Project HOPE. She counts Ginger Rogers, Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger, and President Weizman of Israel among her friends and collectors. And let's not forget that there are two Hibel museums, one in Florida and one in Massachusetts, dedicated to her work and a fan club called the Hibel Society with thousands of members worldwide.

So what is it about Hibel's art that attracts so much attention and admiration? Perhaps it is her extraordinary use of color and her creative brushwork on canvas, silk, fresco, cameo paper or wood that attracts viewers to her distinctive "classical impressionist" style. Or maybe it is her masterful use of gold inlay, a technique derived from Renaissance artists. Perhaps it is her depiction of subjects living in harmony with one another; whether they are mothers with children or farmers in a field, her subjects all reflect a message of love, beauty and compassion. Her work strives to show an ideal world: "Read any newspaper and you'll find out why," she explained. "There are so many terrible things going on in the world, but there are beautiful things too, and not enough attention is paid to the good things in life." She firmly believes that "to be a human is an achievement, even if you are a beggar" Her warm and sensitive manner is also reflected in her art: "I try to express the love I feel for people," she said.

She's obviously doing something right. Not only are her paintings immensely popular, selling for at least $100,000, but she also creates serigraphs, stone lithographs, and limited-edition prints. Additionally, she creates collectibles like porcelain dolls and plates. These endeavors have created a highly profitable family business, although it seems such issues elude Hibel's concerns. The marketing and sale of her work is left to her husband, Ted, her son, Andy, and her daughter-in-law, Cheryll.

The origins of Hibel's fascination with art dates back to her childhood in Boston. From an early age, Hibel's talent was noticeable. She began formal study at the age of 13 with Gregory Michaels, a noted Boston painter who had recognized Hibel's talent and had wanted to teach her free of charge, though Hibel's mother shrewdly insisted on paying him. Hibel went to his studio every day after school and soaked up the fundamentals of drawing and painting. After graduating from high school, Hibel enrolled at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts from 1935-39. There she worked in the studio incessantly, so much that her teacher, Alexander Yacovlev, genuinely believed she had time for little else in her life, let alone a boyfriend.

But she did. And when she was awarded a fellowship to Mexico in 1939, Edna almost turned it down because of her impending marriage to Theodore Plotkin, her high-school sweetheart. But Yacovlev wisely convinced her to go, and it was during this period that Edna's distinctive style began to emerge through works reflecting Mexican culture, such as "Orange Girl." Upon her return to Boston at age 23, this painting was purchased by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts for its permanent collection--making her the youngest artist at the time so honored by a major American museum. Shortly after her marriage to Plotkin in 1940, she was offered a show at a Boston gallery and it seemed that this newlywed was on her way to fame.

Despite these early successes, Hibel didn't let it go to her head. Instead, she was constantly pushing herself in new directions. When she sold a painting, she admits that she "didn't think too much about it, although we needed the money." In many ways, she still considered herself a student, confessing that "I didn't know what I was doing--I was struggling with technique and didn't feel like I was really expressing myself." Yacovlev suggested she learn the techniques of the Renaissance artists, who worked with a technical formula in order to achieve freedom in other areas. So Edna went to the museum everyday and studied the techniques of the old masters--learning how to prepare the boards in the traditional manner and becoming familiar with the use of gold leaf--while painting copies of Bonoventura's and Rembrandt's. She also enlisted the help of a man in Restoration to answer her technical questions. "I don't think I ever learned more than I did studying that year," she explained.