Elaine Lavalle
2006 Honored Member
The Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club takes great delight in naming Elaine Lavalle this year’s Honored Member, recognizing her accomplishments as a sculptor and important contributions to our club.
Elaine Lavalle is the daughter of the late John Lavalle, a respected and prolific professional portrait painter and watercolor landscape painter. His shadow loomed large. As a young child, Elaine would visit his studio and paint with him. However, as she grew older, she turned away from painting and focused instead on Art History. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in Art History from Fordham University, and later pursued graduate studies at NYU and the Fine Arts Institute.
Elaine Lavalle with “Calico Cat,” Pink Alabaster, 14”H x 6”W x 8”D.
Elaine eventually broke out
of the shadow of her father. Toying with a piece of clay from her son’s
art project, she sculpted a
nearly perfect rendition of her young daughter’s face. This event
was an epiphany of sorts, and led her to the Art Students League, National
Academy of Design, SculptureCenter Studios, and Southampton College, where
she studied sculpture, painting, stained glass, foundry work and jewelry
design.
Elaine’s
sculpture is mostly figurative. Although she is best known for her portrait
busts worked in clay or wax and cast in bronze, she has also carved in
marble, other stones, wood, and bas relief in slate. She makes her own
molds and casts, and works in a variety of experimental materials. Her
jewelry designs are cast in silver, bronze and gold. While Elaine’s
work is mainly sculpture, in the past several years she has revived an
interest in watercolor landscapes, attending travel workshops and exhibiting
in group shows in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester.
Honored Members