Margaret Marley Modlin (January 5, 1927 – October 28, 1998) was an American

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

painter, sculptor and photographer who spent most of her adult life in Spain.

Biography

Margaret Marley was born in

Robeson County Robeson County ( )Talk Like a Tarheel
, from the North Carolina C ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Elmer Modlin and Margaret Marley were married in North Carolina in 1949 then moved to Hollywood to find their fortune.Josefa Paredes (July 1, 2012
"En busca de una historia para los Modlin"
(in Spanish), ''

El Confidencial ''El Confidencial'' is a Spanish-language general-information digital newspaper located in Spain, specializing in economic, financial and political news. It was established as an online newspaper in 2001. Its target readership is professional ...

''. Retrieved 2014-01-30. They had one son, Nelson, who was born in 1952. Elmer Modlin appeared in TV show ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typi ...

'' and the 1968 film, '' Rosemary's Baby''. They left the United States in 1972 to seek better prospects, arriving in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain, in 1975.Susana Hidalgo (June 21, 2004
"A la espera de un mecenas"
(in Spanish), ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

''. Retrieved 2014-01-30. Margaret Modlin is credited with acting parts in the 1973 film ''

Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing ''Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing'' is a 1973 American comedy-drama film directed by Alan J. Pakula.''Variety'' film review; April 18, 1973, page 32. It is often categorized as a drama, but contains many comic elements. Maggie Smith and Ti ...

'' and the 1977 film, '' March or Die''.March or Die
IMDb

Artistic career

Modlin stayed at home creating her artworks while her husband and son found paid work. The household, in a house on Calle de Pez, revolved around Margaret the "eccentric painter". The artist used her son and her husband like models to create

scenes about the

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...

with a Mesianism message. Modlin's paintings and drawings have been exhibited in California, New York City, Italy and Spain.Elmer N. and Margaret M. Modlin Papers (#4977) 1987, 1996 (Collection overview)
Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library (

UNC UNC is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to: Education * University of North Carolina, a multi-campus public university system in the U.S. ** University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a public research university ** PBS North Carolin ...

). In 1972, she exhibited at Galeria de Luis in Madrid, Spain, and, in 1978, at the Círculo de Bellas Artes, the first foreigner invited to exhibit. Modlin didn't sell a painting in her lifetime but hoped to find a place in art history."The best book of the year / El mejor libro del año"
Spanish Academy of Language and Translation, Edinburgh, January 16, 2014. She died in 1998, stipulating in her will that her paintings remained in Spain. Her final painting, of poet

José García Nieto José García Nieto (Oviedo, 6 July 1914 – Madrid, 27 February 2001) was a Spanish poet and writer. In 1996, he was awarded the Miguel de Cervantes Prize. Along with Gabriel Celaya, Blas de Otero and José Hierro, he was a member of the post- ...

, was only half completed.

Los Modlin

After the death of her son Nelson in 2002 and her husband Elmer Modlin in 2003, Margaret Modlin's 120 paintings and personal effects remained in their dilapidated building, which the ''

'' newspaper described as "a house-museum full of cracks and illuminated only by the colorful paintings." In June 2003 photographs, family movies and personal items about Modlin family were discovered in the street and Spanish photographer Paco Gómez began to piece together the story. In November 2013 he published a book, ''Los Modlin'', based on the subsequent investigation about the family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modlin, Margaret American surrealist artists 20th-century American painters 20th-century American sculptors American women surrealist artists 1927 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American women painters 20th-century American women sculptors