Mabel Alvarez Art

Art Brokerage: (1891-1985) Mabel Alvarez was born in 1891 to a prominent Spanish family who lived on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Her father, Luis, a physician, was involved with the leprosy research begun by the legendary Father Damien. Dr. Alvarez was also a skillful real estate investor, and by the time the family relocated to Los Angeles in 1906 they were financially secure. Her brother, Walter, would later distinguish himself as a physician-research scientist, and would be proposed for a Nobel prize for his contributions to medicine. Mabel demonstrated a special artistic talent at a very young age. In 1915, she enrolled in Los Angeles' leading art school, directed by William V. Cahill. She painted two noted works at this time, a large mural for the Pan-California Exposition in San Diego and a haunting charcoal portrait of a woman in profile used by the Cahill School for its catalog cover. Her first portrait painting was displayed at the Los Angeles Museum (now the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) in 1917, a museum with which she continued a close relationship until her death in 1985.