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The Dorothea & Leo Rabkin Foundation

Join Mechanics' Hall and the Rabkin Foundation for a firsthand account of the artist, Jon Serl.

Long before major museums embraced him as one of America's most original artists, Jon Serl (c. 1898-1993) lived a quiet but vibrant life in rural California, surrounded by his visionary paintings, his chickens, and his chihuahuas. Playful, curious, and fiercely true to himself, he filled his work with social commentary and fearless self-examination, exploring spirituality, politics, gender, sexuality, and death. Weightless, ethereal figures seem to swim across his canvases in a kind of celestial dance.

The moment Susan C. Larsen and her late husband, Lauri Robert Martin, caught sight of one of those remarkable paintings behind the counter of a remote California antique shop, they were captivated. The work wasn't for sale, so instead they decided to track down the self-taught artist.

What followed was a decadeslong friendship. Over those years, Larsen pieced together much of Serl's remarkable story through countless interviews and close study of his paintings, while Martin documented the artist's life in an extraordinary body of photographs. Larsen's scholarship would make her one of the earliest and most influential interpreters of Serl's work.

Today, amid renewed national interest in Serl’s work, much is still unknown about the artist.

On Nov. 12, Larsen will offer a rare, firsthand account of the artist, his work, and the enduring friendship that shaped her understanding of both. The free lecture at Mechanics’ Hall draws on Larsen’s forthcoming memoir about Serl and is organized alongside an intimate exhibition, “Jon Serl: Life Is a Dance,” at the Rabkin Foundation. The exhibit, curated by Larsen, the foundation’s emeritus and founding director, and Rabkin Curator Danielle Yovino, brings together paintings from Larsen’s personal collection alongside works collected by Dorothea and Leo Rabkin, who were among Serl's earliest champions.

Wednesday, November 12 at 6:30 p.m. (doors open to the public 6:00 p.m.). The event is free to the public, registration is required.

Photograph by Lauri Robert Martin ft. The Orchard by Jon Serl, ca. 1975

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In Search of Jon Serl

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