Zoe and Miyoko

Miyoko Ito (1918-1983)   "January into  February"  (1980)

Zoe Nelson (b. 1983) "Swipe Right" (2017)

By possible coincidence, the DePaul Art Museum  has recently acquired these two paintings.

By probable curatorial choice, they are now hanging side by side.

They make for a fascinating contrast between  age and generation.

Ito was 62 when she painted "January into February",  and judging by the sad look on that face, she probably was not feeling very well.  She would die three years later - the same year that Nelson was born.

Nelson was 34 when she painted "Swipe Right".  No explanation was needed for it to feel  sexy and sensual. But it feels even more so when gallery signage explained the title ( "swiping right" invites a hook up on the popular dating ap, Tinder)


An old woman faces mortality while a much younger one pursues sexuality.  Life moves on.

And perhaps the baton for a  certain kind of sensitive, suggestive, meticulous abstract painting has just been handed from one generation to another.