Jenny Scobel (born 1955) is an American painter who lives and works in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She makes paintings of women and children weaving a sense of innocence with foreboding or darkness. Her works, compared to

Romaine Brooks Romaine Brooks (born Beatrice Romaine Goddard; May 1, 1874 – December 7, 1970) was an American painter who worked mostly in Paris and Capri. She specialized in portrait painting, portraiture and used a subdued tonal Palette (painting), palette ...

, have been auctioned at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

and

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

Early and personal life

Jenny Scobel was born in

Orrville, Ohio Orrville is a city in Wayne County, Ohio, United States. It is about east of Wooster, Ohio, Wooster and southwest of Akron, Ohio, Akron. The population was 8,452 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Micropolitan stat ...

and grew up in

Mentor Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. At

Cleveland Institute of Art The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focused on art and design and located in Cleveland, Ohio. History The college was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, at f ...

, Scobel received her

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

. She received her

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

from

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

. She lives and works in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Paintings

Scobel makes portraits or figurative paintings of children and women that blend a scene of innocent-like faces with images that suggest an underlying dark or disturbing story. The subtle mixed messages creates a "disarming perspective" and "present a mature approach to creating complex and disarming works. ''Family tree'' of a young girl in the foreground, hands in her pockets and a disturbing background of a tree and running blood is one example. She often works in wax and

graphite Graphite () is a Crystallinity, crystalline allotrope (form) of the element carbon. It consists of many stacked Layered materials, layers of graphene, typically in excess of hundreds of layers. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable ...

. Journalist Kristin Capp likened her work to that of

. Raphael Rubinstein of Art In America said "Scobel is an artist whose attention to detail reaches manic (and sublime) proportions. She poses her subjects - in this show, pensive young women - against wallpaper per whose intricate motifs would exhaust a less patient artist. These backgrounds often seem to reveal the subjects' thoughts, as if the women had dreamed the allegorical scenes into existence." She gives lectures, such as the April 7, 2010 engagement at the School of Art at Illinois State.

Kerry James Marshall Kerry James Marshall (born October 17, 1955) is an American artist and professor, known for his paintings of Black figures. He previously taught painting at the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2017, Marshall ...

is her favorite artist.

Works

A few of Scobel's works are: * ''Untitled man,'' 1993, oil on panel * ''One Rose,'' 1995, Rita Krauss Fine Art * ''Blue veil,'' 2003-2004, graphite, wax and watercolor on masonite. Sold at

in 2009 * ''Words fell,'' 2005, graphite, wax and watercolor on gessoed board. Sold at

, London, 2013 * ''All that before,'' 2006,

Zeno X Zeno X is an art gallery founded in 1981 by Frank Demaegd and Eliane Breynaert, with a focus on mainly figurative painting within the contemporary art in Antwerp, Belgium. Artists Artists represented by the gallery include: * Michaël Borremans, ...

Gallery, Antwerp * ''Among friends,'' 2006, Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp * ''Just the same,'' 2006, graphite, wax and watercolor on gessoed board * ''Jenny Scobel'', 2006 (exhibition catalog) * ''Untitled girl,'' 2006, etching and drypoint * ''Day at a time,'' 2009, Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp * ''Family tree,'' 2012, Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp * ''What the last man took'', 2013 Her works are in the public collections at Hudson Valley for Contemporary Art, New York and the Rubell Family Collection in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Scobel's work has been exhibited since about 1985. She has had solo shows at: * Galerie der Stadt Backnang in

Backnang Backnang (; ) is a town in Germany in the Bundesland (Germany), Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, roughly northeast of Stuttgart. Its population has increased greatly over the past century, from 7,650 in 1900 to 37,957 in 2022. Backnang was ce ...

, Germany in 2006 * Michel Soskine, Madrid in 2010 * Kendall School of Design in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

* Thomas Erben Gallery in New York City. * "Unsolved Mysteries" at

Molloy College Molloy University is a private Roman Catholic university in Rockville Centre, New York. Initially founded as a school for women, it is now co-educational. It provides more than 50 academic undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs fo ...

Rockville Centre, New York Rockville Centre, commonly abbreviated as RVC, is an incorporated Village (New York), village located in the Hempstead, New York, Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long ...

in 1999. *

Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp (; ; ) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after Tournai and Couvin. With a population of 565,039, ...

Group exhibitions

Her work has been exhibited with other artists in London, New York, and Chicago. In 2004, Scobel participated in the exhibition "Sagt holde Frauen: 15 zeitgenössische Kunstlerinnen und das Medium Zeichnung" at the

Fridericianum The Fridericianum is a museum in Kassel, Germany. Built in 1779, it is one of the oldest public museums in Europe.

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

, Germany

References

External links

*
Solo exhibition at Thomas Erben Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scobel, Jenny 1955 births Living people American contemporary painters Cleveland Institute of Art alumni Pratt Institute alumni People from Orrville, Ohio 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters 21st-century American women painters 21st-century American painters