Tina Blondell (born 1953) is an Austrian/American painter. She was born in

Salzburg, Austria Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Alps mountains. The town occupies the site of the Roman settlement ...

, but spent the better part of her childhood in Italy where she was introduced to art. She moved to the United States, first to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in 1971 and then to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

in 1992. By the late 1990s, she had settled in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and her paintings are a part of many public collections, including in Minnesota at the

Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the List of largest art museums, largest ar ...

and the

Weisman Art Museum Weisman Art Museum is an art museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1934 as University Gallery, the museum was originally housed in an upper floor of the university's Northrop Auditorium. In 1993, the museum ...

Early life

Blondell was born in Salzburg, Austria, in 1953 to an American father and an Austrian mother. In 1957, she moved to Italy, where she lived until she was 18. In Italy, her father taught her how to draw, and she explored European art while traveling with her parents. Her interest and education in art was heavily influenced by seventeenth and nineteenth century artists such as

Artemisia Gentileschi Artemisia Lomi Gentileschi ( ; ; 8 July 1593) was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished 17th century, 17th-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional ...

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

, and

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish Romanticism, romantic painter and Printmaking, printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hi ...

Art

Blondell's works reflect a narrative style inspired by early art. Although her art is generally considered contemporary, she often quotes images from art history. She combines references to the past with a newer genre. Examples of her historical quoting include ''Urban American Gothic]'' (2008), which references

Grant Wood Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891February 12, 1942) was an American artist and representative of Regionalism (art), Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest. He is particularly well known for ''America ...

's ''

American Gothic ''American Gothic'' is a 1930 oil on beaverwood painting by the American Regionalist artist Grant Wood. Depicting a Midwestern farmer and his wife or daughter standing in front of their Carpenter Gothic style home, ''American Gothic'' is one ...

'' from 1930. She also references historical and biblical stories such as

Judith beheading Holofernes The account of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith is given in the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, and is the subject of many paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance art, Renaissance and Baroque periods. In the story, Judith, a beautifu ...

in her 1999 watercolor painting ''I'll Make You Shorter By a Head''. Many of the subjects in Blondell's paintings are inspired by her friends and acquaintances. Blondell's contemporary paintings often contain themes related to feminism and activism. In her painting ''Urban American Gothic'' (2008), she hints at the same-sex couple in the painting with a human rights logo on the cap. She represents women's empowerment through paintings like ''These Boots Are Made For Walking'' (2007). Many of these paintings celebrate women and womanhood.

Collections and exhibitions

Aside from private collections, Blondell's work can be found in the permanent collections at the

and the

. She also has public paintings in

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the List of counties in ...

. These include ''Helping Hands'' at the Hennepin County Commissioners Office (2000) and the ''Hennepin County History Mural'' at the

Hennepin County Government Center Hennepin County Government Center is the courthouse and primary county government administration building for Hennepin County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in Central, Minneapolis, downtown Minneapolis, the county seat of Hennep ...

(2000).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blondell, Tina 1953 births Living people 21st-century American women painters 21st-century American painters Artists from Salzburg Artists from Minneapolis Austrian emigrants to Italy Austrian emigrants to the United States