{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbrattleboro-words-trail-podcast.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Femily-mason-fxAYoiTK","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"Emily Mason ","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/c1b256c8-044b-4592-a910-ccde0e33890a/d8137486-3aca-4a80-a6b0-128d9c13a4ac/011987ceminnystudiophongbui_01.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"","height":200,"description":"This episode explores the life and work of abstract painter Emily Mason, who, in the wake of her death in 2019, publication of a first 2025 monograph and first Paris exhibition, is experiencing a huge surge of interest internationally and has been labeled an 'American genius' by The New Yorker magazine. The 38-minute piece is broken down into sections detailed below featuring interviews with Mason’s daughter Melany Kahn and Steven Rose, Mason’s former studio manager and current executive director of the Emily Mason and Alice Trumbull Mason Foundation, and the voice of Emily Mason herself thanks to various archived tapes previously unavailable to the public. The discussion covers Mason's artistic journey from the 1950s until her death, her deep connection to both New York City and Brattleboro, Vermont, and her significant but under recognized contributions to abstract expressionism. Key topics include her approach to her work where she struggled to ‘get herself out of the way,’ her relationship to her namesake, poet Emily Dickinson, the 2025 publication of her comprehensive monograph \"Emily Mason: Unknown to Possibility\" by Rizzoli, her first Paris exhibition at Almine Rech Gallery, and her philanthropic legacy in Brattleboro including support for the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC). The episode also delves into her family background, including her relationship to her mother, Alice Trumbull Mason (also an abstract painter), and the family’s struggles with alcoholism and addiction, her long marriage to painter Wolf Kahn, her 30-year teaching career at Hunter College, and her printmaking work. The podcast concludes with details about her death and burial at her Vermont farm and her daughter’s reading of Dickinson’s poem \"Hope is the Thing with Feathers.\" See time stamps for guide through sections:\nIntroduction (0-4:30) “American Genius” Mason defies categorization as interest in her work surges internationally / deep bonds to Brattleboro and New York City\nSection One: (4:30) Mason’s Artistic Methods and Practice\nSection Two (13:00) Mason’s Life, Work and Relationships in Brattleboro\nSection Three: (20:10) Mason’s Early Life, Education, Teaching and Family Life\nSection Four (29:00) Mason’s Dedication to Mother Alice Trumbull Mason’s Legacy\nSection Five (31:40) Mason’s End of Life and Legacy\n\n"}