‘LYNNE DREXLER Painter” is a Treasure Trove of the Life and Times of Drexler, Published by the Monhegan Museum in 2008.

Lynne Drexler Abstract Painter, who found refuge from the New York City art world many decades ago when she moved to Monhegan Island, is to have her paintings exhibited at MOSS Galleries on Munjoy Hill next month.

t’s a rags to riches story.  But the sad part is that Drexler didn’t live long enough to enjoy the millions that her paintings now garner at exhibits at the most prestigious art galleries across the nation.  She died on Monhegan Island in 1999 – far from realizing the true monetary value her vast works of art now command from art patrons and possibly  those investing in art as part of their portfolio.

Drexler was born in Virginia in 1928.  In 1956, she moved to New York City to participate in the Abstract Expressionist movement   She was a student of prolific art critic and painter Robert Motherwell at Hunter College.  He and others encouraged her to become a full-time artist.  Then, in 1962, she married fellow abstract painter John Hultberg whose art overshadowed her own. The couple moved to Monhegan Island part-time initially; partly to escape the New York art world and as a less stressful place to cope with his heavy drinking.  But the relationship didn’t last and he eventually returned to New York City – leaving Drexler happlily on Monhegan Island until her death in 1999.

“The artist, Lynne Drexler, might merit more attention today then she ever received in her lifetime,” is a qjuote from “The New York Times,” written on October 23, 2022. in an article “Out of Obscurity, Lynne Drexler’s Abstract Painting Fetch Millions.”  The TImes article details how two paintings of Drexler’s sold at auction in the spring of 2021 for far more than had been anticipated.  One of the two paintings, “Flowered Hundred,” was expected to sell at Christie’s in New York for $40,000 to $60,000.  It sold for just under $1.2 million.  The second painting according to the same Times article, came up for auction and was expected to reap $70,000 to $100,000.  It sold for $1.5 million.

“It feels like a true rediscovery,” Sukanya Rajarathan, a partner at Mnuchin Gallery, a New York City gallery owned by Robert Mnuchin, said of the artist’s renaissance in the same Times article.   ‘Sometimes there are artists who are hiding in plain sight.”  She noted that it was relatively unusual for a backward glance to produce such interest today.  “Not every forgotten artist deserves to have their story told,” she said.  The gallery lists Jason Pollock, And Warhol and Robert Motherwell as artists they represent.

This will be her first exhibit at MOSS Galleries since 2021; an opportunity that art lovers should try not to miss.  MOSS Galleries is located at 100 Fore Street on Munjoy HIll.  Please call 207 – 781- 2620 for more information.