In this intriguing documentary, acclaimed writer Jane Anderson takes us on a journey whereby the strikingly colorful artwork of her great-aunt Edith Lake Wilkinson is uncovered and brought out to the world , after being stowed away in a relatives attic for some 4 decades.
We will come to learn the quite tragic and sad history of what happened to Wilkinson, once a thriving member of the Provincetown (on the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts) art community. She was committed to a mental institution, in 1924, by her family attorney, who may have been siphoning off her inherited funds and opposed to her long term gay relationship with her companion Fannie. The bottom line is that Wilkinson languished in mental institutions until her death in 1957.
Highly motivated to get her great-aunt's artwork out of the trunks they were stored in all these years and out into public viewing, Anderson established a website to begin this process. Soon thereafter, she was contacted by a gallery owner in Provincetown who indeed wanted to hold an exhibit of Wilkinson's work. Ironically, one of the prints was indeed of the very building where the gallery was located. This would all give Wilkinson's vivid work an opportunity to be seen and discussed by the public, as well as art collectors.
While viewing this movie, it reminded me in some ways of another documentary "Finding Vivian Maier" where amazing black and white photographs taken by Maier were found and brought to light after her death. If you like these kind of films, you may very well want to check out that one as well.
Overall, this documentary, directed by Michelle Boyaner, has its rough spots, like the scene involving calling a psychic in to help obtain information, but I did find the movie to be quite intriguing and interesting on the whole, while leaving me with feelings of sadness when I thought about the life of Edith Lake Wilkinson.
We will come to learn the quite tragic and sad history of what happened to Wilkinson, once a thriving member of the Provincetown (on the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts) art community. She was committed to a mental institution, in 1924, by her family attorney, who may have been siphoning off her inherited funds and opposed to her long term gay relationship with her companion Fannie. The bottom line is that Wilkinson languished in mental institutions until her death in 1957.
Highly motivated to get her great-aunt's artwork out of the trunks they were stored in all these years and out into public viewing, Anderson established a website to begin this process. Soon thereafter, she was contacted by a gallery owner in Provincetown who indeed wanted to hold an exhibit of Wilkinson's work. Ironically, one of the prints was indeed of the very building where the gallery was located. This would all give Wilkinson's vivid work an opportunity to be seen and discussed by the public, as well as art collectors.
While viewing this movie, it reminded me in some ways of another documentary "Finding Vivian Maier" where amazing black and white photographs taken by Maier were found and brought to light after her death. If you like these kind of films, you may very well want to check out that one as well.
Overall, this documentary, directed by Michelle Boyaner, has its rough spots, like the scene involving calling a psychic in to help obtain information, but I did find the movie to be quite intriguing and interesting on the whole, while leaving me with feelings of sadness when I thought about the life of Edith Lake Wilkinson.
