The Art Students League mourns the passing of painter Barbara Adrian, who taught at the Art Students League from 1968 to 2011. In celebration of her life, we present a few of her paintings and thoughts on art.

“The universal quality of people caught in a moment of time, their own time, and their own existence, is to me a fit subject for art, so that in their portrayal, they are also caught by eternity.”

“I want to paint the magic of man, and that magic, both real and phantasmagorical, by which he lives and feels.”

“Human life touches all things: for instance, a chipped, decaying wall. And in turn, these things have a bearing on man in their own personal and highly mystical way.”