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

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

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

Biography

Margaret Marley was born in

Robeson County Robeson County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of North Carolina and is its largest county by land area. Its county seat is and largest city is Lumberton. The county was formed in 1787 from part of Bladen County and named in ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

Elmer Modlin Elmer Modlin (1925–2003) was an American film and television actor.Cowie pg. 628 He settled in Europe, working frequently in Spain. He was married to the artist Margaret Modlin. He is sometimes credited as Elmer Modling. Selected filmography ...

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 most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

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

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' 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 . ''El ...

''. 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 ...

'' 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 in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

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 Northern California (disambiguation), which may refer to: ** University of Northern California (Santa Rosa), in Petaluma, California, United States ** University of Nor ...

). 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 po ...

, 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 Women surrealist artists American women sculptors American women painters 1927 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American women artists