About Judith Jaffe

Biography

Born in 1932, New York, NY and living in Stow, Massachusetts, Judith Jaffe is well known for her expressive and surrealist paintings, drawings, pastels, collage and mixed media. She attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and earned her BFA at Tufts University, class of 1975. She is a long-time member of ArtSpace Maynard and maintained a studio there for twenty years. Judith has been exhibiting in solo and group exhibits for over fifty years and had a mid-career retrospective in 2013. Her work is held in private collections throughout the United States. 

Artist Statement

I received my BFA from Tufts University and the Boston School of the Museum of Fine Arts in the early 1970s. During this period, I created etchings, drawings, and paintings of women and babies, which became my metaphors for the fragility of life.

During the 1990s, I experienced the loss of my mother and the birth of grandchildren. The stages of life became foremost in my mind. At that time, I used acrylics and pastels on large canvases as well as monotypes.

The untimely death of my son in 2004 led me to meditate on the need for God. This question became the basis for the series Quest. These works incorporated a multitude of mediums including oil, egg tempera, watercolor, and installation.

With the arrival of the 21st century, I returned to some of my past works, reworking the somber pieces by collaging and painting over them. To my surprise, they have become more uplifting.

In my eighties, I again become engaged with the female figure utilizing various media including collage, watercolor, cyanotype and geliprint. I employ the female figure in my art because I love the energy and spirit of the female form; I enjoy combining natural elements with the figure since it suggests we humans are part of the natural world that surrounds us. My series, Eve & Her Sisters, is based on these themes.

After renting a studio in the eighties, I spent time drawing from models, which then evolved into pastel fantasies containing pods, flowers, vines, and humans mingling or standing alone. Often these diverse images convince one that we are all part of nature.

No matter what the following years have brought to me, I continue to draw from the model. As a child, my very favorite occupation was cutting out paper dolls and their accessories. I would spend hours creating stories about my life and their lives. At the age of fourteen, on Saturday mornings, I went to the Art Students League in Manhattan. There I drew a model named Rosie, who wore nothing but heels and stockings rolled up to her knees and a flower in her hair. Lately, at the age of ninety-two, I have been cutting out figures from these life drawings and placing them in my new work, to illuminate the stories of women today.

Exhibitions & Press

2024   Danforth Art Museum   June 22 - September 22   Juried Exhibiton

2023   Wicked Local   'She's Remarkable' Maynard Artist, 91, Hopes to Keep Thriving

2020   Umbrella Arts Center   ArtSpace Maynard @ The Umbrella Visiting Exhibition

2015   Christopher C. Brodigan Gallery, Groton School   Recalculation: Past and Present

2015   Stow TV     Exhibition at the Groton School

2015   ArtScope     Exquisite Corpse at Gallery Seven

2015   Wicked Local    Painter Experiments with Art

2013   ArtSpace Gallery   Judith Jaffe Retrospective

2013   Artscope   Judith Jaffe: 'I'm Not Finsihed Yet'

2013   Wicked Local     Stow Artist is 'Not Finished Yet'

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Contact Judith

Please inquire about purchasing artwork by Judith or ask her any questions you may have!

E-mail: jjaffe@judithjaffeart.com

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