Florence Wysinger Allen (March 14, 1913 – June 1, 1997) was an African American artists' model for more than 30 years. She was called "San Francisco's best loved artists' model".

Personal life

Florence Wysinger Allen was born in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, California in 1913. Her father, Marion, was the son of California pioneer

Edmond Edward Wysinger Edmond Edward Wysinger (c. 1816–1891) was an African American pioneer in California, arriving around October 1849 at the beginning of the California Gold Rush. Wysinger was one of the first African Americans to migrate to California from the Ameri ...

.1920 United States Federal Census. Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Her mother, née Moore, was a concert pianist. Allen attended Fremont High School and became active in the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

arts community and became a

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

activist and newspaper columnist. Her social circle included the likes of

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

and

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

. When not modeling she worked as a hostess at North Beach restaurants such as

Washington Square Bar and Grill The Washington Square Bar & Grill was a landmark restaurant adjoining Washington Square in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood (Powell at Union streets). Known widely as the Washbag, so named by columnist Herb Caen as a play on words, it ...

. In 1987 she was struck by a truck while crossing a street near Fisherman's Wharf, breaking both her legs and restricting her mobility. She died in El Sobrante, California on June 1, 1997.

Artists' model

Allen began modelling in 1933, motivated by monetary need, and worked for painters such as

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract art, abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular reg ...

Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...

Gertrude Murphy Gertrude Murphy was a San Francisco-based sculptor who exhibited her work at the de Young and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the mid-twentieth century. She is the namesake and donor for the Jack and Gertrude Murphy Fine Art Fellowship ...

and

Wayne Thiebaud Wayne Thiebaud ( ; born Morton Wayne Thiebaud; November 15, 1920 – December 25, 2021) was an American painter known for his colorful works depicting commonplace objects—pies, cakes, lipsticks, paint cans, ice cream cones, pastries, and hot d ...

. She also modeled for

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. T ...

classes at the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a Private college, private art school, college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mis ...

University of California-Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, the

California College of Arts and Crafts The California College of the Arts (CCA) is a Private university, private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996, it opened ...

and

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

. Allen preferred to model in the nude acknowledging that successful modeling was strenuous, involving discipline and thought. As she stated, "You can't think with your clothes on." Modeling in the nude also earned her more money; she was paid 75 cents an hour versus 50 cents an hour for clothed modeling. In 1945 she led the founding of the San Francisco Models' Guild, an extant entity currently known as the Bay Area Models' Guild. It was influential for improving the pay for artists models. In 1965 the

University of California-San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life s ...

held an art exhibition titled "Florence Allen Herself" which showcased Allen's thirty year modelling career. In 1987 she became the Model Coordinator and teacher of the Model Certification Workshop at the

California College of the Arts The California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996, it opened a second campus in ...

References

External links

Bay Area Models Guild
which was started by Allen
Flo Allen at California College of Arts and Crafts Founders' Day, 1967

Flo Allen's obituary from the SFGate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Florence Wysinger 1913 births 1997 deaths African-American female models American artists' models California College of the Arts Models from Austin, Texas People from Oakland, California El Sobrante Art in the San Francisco Bay Area 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American people Fremont High School (Oakland, California) alumni