Honoré

Sharrer
By: Ali McClarnon
Resurrection of the
Waitress
What I see: I see a woman who appears to
be dead, being pulled out of the water by
another woman with a pinwheel instead of
wings. There is a razor blade in the moon.
The colors are bright and happy.

What I think: I think that the woman in the

yellow tried to commit suicide, and the lady
in the red is trying to save her. There is a
contrast of women’s strength here.
Sometimes they are very strong, and
sometimes they can be very vulnerable.

What I wonder: What do the animals

represent?
 Background
Honore Sharrer was born in 1920 in New York. She first
learned painting techniques from her mom and George Luks,
who is also a magical realism/surrealism painter. Later on,
Honore went to Yale and a California art school to study
painting, but she found that she did not love the structure of
art schools. Honore spent her career painting things that
displayed the greatness of the working class. She died in
2009.
Time Period
Although Honore was already a
public figure by World War II, she
art did not stop until she was very
old.
Style
Honore’s work was considered both
magical realism and surrealism, but
when most people describe her art,
they lean more to the surrealism side.
How is it connected to magical realism/surrealism
- Colors
- Some sort of “angel”
- Dream and fantasy
- Real idea, but distorted
Haiku
Float up to the sky

Through work become immortal

The power of work

Then vs. Now
● I was completely wrong about the story ● About a drowning victim
behind it ● Based off of “Ascent of the Blessed”
● Working woman
● Not a suicide
● Deserving to be considered as a saint
● Not a feminist lens
● Not conventional
Work Cited
Glueck, Grace. “ART IN REVIEW; Honoré Sharrer.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 May 2002, www.nytimes.com/2002/05/03/arts/art-
in-review-honore-sharrer.html.

“Honoré Sharrer.” Smithsonian American Art Museum, americanart.si.edu/artist/honore-sharrer-4400.

“Off-Center Views.” See Honore Sharrer's Work Before It Closes, off-centerviews.blogspot.com/2017/12/see-honore-sharrers-work-before-it.html.

“PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.” Subversion and Surrealism in the Art of Honoré Sharrer | PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts, www.pafa.org/exhibitions/subversion-and-surrealism-art-honor%C3%A9-sharrer.

Sharp, Sarah Rose. “Discovering Honoré Sharrer, an Eclipsed 20th-Century Surrealist Painter.” Hyperallergic, Hyperallergic, 21 Apr. 2017,
hyperallergic.com/371227/discovering-honore-sharrer-an-eclipsed-20th-century-surrealist-painter/.