25 Facts About Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal, professionally known as Elaine Hamilton, was an internationally known American abstract painter and muralist born near Catonsville, Maryland.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal was professionally admired by the influential French critic Michel Tapie de Celeyran and exhibited internationally in solo and multiple-artist exhibits in the United States, Mexico, South Asia, Japan, and throughout Europe.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal showed twice in the Venice Biennale and won first prize at the 1968 Biennale de Menton in France.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal is known for the work of her final stylistic phase, known as action painting.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal had climbed K2, which is part of the Karakoram Range and known as the Savage Mountain due to the difficulty of ascent, with the second highest fatality rate among those who attempt to climb it.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal visited the former kingdom of Sikkim as a guest of Tashi Namgyal, the ruling Chogyal of Sikkim and the royal family.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal was the daughter of Robert Bruce and Lee Hamilton.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal's experience at the park was a blend of rugged outdoor living complemented with the trappings of the modern middle-class lifestyle.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal was initially based in Baltimore, employed by the Glenn L Martin Company, though he traveled frequently and finally ended up in Birmingham.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal studied under the mentorship the muralist Diego Rivera.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal was not interested in Picasso, she says, and while she admired the work of Jose Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera, she mainly wanted to learn the techniques required for outdoor murals.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal visited the former kingdom of Sikkim as a guest of Tashi Namgyal, the ruling Chogyal of Sikkim and the royal family.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal was born in Tibet and crowned by the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, he was a strong advocate for closer links with India.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal maintained a close fondness for the country and its people, choosing to return every year for 30 years.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal's work evolved from realistic portraiture in the 1940s to pure abstraction in the 1960s and thereafter.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal exhibited at the Pakistan Arts Council in Karachi.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal was featured in numerous multi-artist exhibitions in these cities as well as in Paris, the Whitney Museum in New York City, and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal's influence extends across Europe and around the world.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal was descended from an old, aristocratic French family; notably, he was the second cousin of the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal organized and curated scores of exhibitions of new and modern art in major cities all over the world.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal's work has been described as abstract expressionism and "action painting," but Hamilton says the Buddhist monks she knew in Tibet described it best: "It's meditation in action," she says.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal eventually downsized to the warmth of a quaint French chateau with just 18 rooms.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal described her brothers as wonderful friends, and she had strong bonds with her nieces and nephews.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal's dining room furniture dates to the Renaissance, the table embellished with a pair of sturdy brass candlesticks from the same period, which she bought for $200 as an art student in Florence.

Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal stopped painting around 2004, due to eye problems, but otherwise remained in good health.