Week #5, Shown at the Betty Parsons Gallery I

Mask No. 2, 1958. Oil on Masonite, 44” x 28 ½”.

This month we are sharing some of Dusti Bongé’s works that were shown at the Betty Parsons Gallery (BPG) in New York in the 1950s and 1960s. Dusti was among the distinguished group of artists who had the privilege of showing at the gallery for many years. Betty Parsons’ roster of artists contained many who today are considered luminaries in mid-century American art.

Dusti first met Betty when her work was included in a show at the Mortimer Brandt Gallery, where Betty worked at the time in 1945. They became lifelong friends and a year later Betty Parsons opened her eponymous gallery. Some of Dusti's works shown there throughout the years sold and are in private collections (somewhere unknown to us), other works came back to Biloxi, and yet others their fate remains unknown. **

This week’s work's fate is luckily not an enigma as it is currently in our collection. Shown above are both the painting and a black & white photograph of it, taken for the BPG at the time. In this bold work, Dusti avails herself of a limited palette of blues, black and white. And yet, with these few hues she creates a powerful composition with incredible depth, movement and energy. Although the overall initial impression is of a dark painting, very quickly one becomes aware of the incredibly luminous bright moments in the work.

For many years, we did not know the title of this work and as such it went by the parenthetical Untitled (Black, Blue and White Composition). Upon discovery of the historical photo, we were able to determine its true title, Mask No. 2. This work was at the gallery in 1958, for Dusti’s second solo exhibition there. Many years later it was on display for several years through the Arts in Embassies program in Maputo, Mozambique.

** If you have any insight as to the whereabouts of any of Dusti Bongé’s works of art, we would be much obliged if you would share that information with us. Thank you in advance!