The Sylvia Sleigh Endowment to Parity Productions

"I wanted above all to express the equality of men and women." - Sylvia Sleigh 

Parity Productions is thrilled to announce that the company has received an unprecedented donation of works of art from the estate of Sylvia Sleigh – the famed, progressive Welsh-born artist known for her works that equalized men and women and reversed stereotypical artistic themes by featuring nude men in poses that were traditionally associated with women. A feminist with a sense of verve and humor, Sylvia always enjoyed turning the tables in her work. 

A frequent inspiration and subject for her work was her beloved husband, Lawrence Alloway, a provocative British-American art critic and curator of the mid-twentieth century, whose writings significantly impacted the trajectory of postwar American art and its consumption by the public. Sylvia was a strong influence on his writing and is partially credited for the fact that Alloway was one of the first male art critics to make a point of reviewing works by women, especially feminist works, though he never wrote on his wife’s work. An ardent fan of his wife’s art, Lawrence sat for dozens of Sylvia’s paintings and drawings, some of which are part of the endowment to Parity Productions.