On View
Not on viewObject number1983/4.21
The Mad Hatter
Artist
Helen Janaszak
(American, 1909-1967)
Dateca. 1950
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 30 × 36 in. (76.2 × 91.4 cm)
frame: 32 1/4 × 38 1/8 in. (81.9 × 96.8 cm)
frame: 32 1/4 × 38 1/8 in. (81.9 × 96.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Miss Fern Gilmore
Exhibition History"American Realism: Visions of America 1900-1950," Muskegon Museum of Art (May 11 - August 27, 2023); Flint Institute of Arts (September 9 - December 30, 2023); KIA (January 21 - April 14, 2024).Label TextHelen Janaszak started painting seriously during her teen
years. Nina Belle Ward was one of her instructors and
Janaszak credited Ward for inspiring her to pursue a career as
an artist. Janaszak studied at Kalamazoo College and went
on to study business at Western State College. Afterwards,
the artist went on to the Art Institute of Chicago for three
years but transferred to the American Academy of Art.
There, Janaszak found that classes were not based in the
trends of the era, which was unexpected.
During the 1930s and 1940s she showed in both Chicago
and Kalamazoo, winning the people’s choice award during
what is today the West Michigan Area Show in 1936. Cities and
their inhabitants were of particular interest to Janaszak, as
seen in The Mad Hatter. The painting depicts a local milliner,
surrounding by hats in various stages of development, whose
shop was located in the Prange building—currently an
apartment building on Rose Street in Kalamazoo. ["American Realism" Exhibition Label, 2023]
