When looking at Slobodkina’s Still Life with Accordion (1934) and Levitator #1 (1950), we see similarities and differences that demonstrate both the continuity and the development of her career. In addition to their similar palettes, both pieces are tilted, energetic compositions with strong diagonals and stylized graphic forms. Yet the differences between these two works highlight the evolution of Slobodkina’s painting style. Still Life with Accordion is representative of the transitional phase of her work, bridging her early Impressionist style and her later abstraction…

By 1950, Slobodkina was living and working in Great Neck, Long Island (she purchased a home there in 1948). Uninterested in Abstract Expressionism, the artist focused on tightly controlled paintings with a harmony of strong lines and areas of pure color. Levitator #1 typifies these paintings, which incorporated mechanical motifs as well as suspended and interlocking geometric shapes. No doubt her early training in engineering and architecture, as well as her experience as a dressmaker, influenced this style…