“LYSOL LADY”, egg tempera & gold leaf, 16”x16” 2022
PAINTINGS
SELF PORTRAITS AS EXISTENTIAL AFFIRMATIONS
“Roberta Levitow also created a self-portrait that includes gold leaf. Her Lysol Lady portrays the artist as a postmodern icon. She holds a can of Lysol disinfecting cleanser. Behind her, two small angels hold up stone tables that read “Hope” and “Fear.” Gold text in the blue sky reads “Anno 2021,” reminding us that the painting was created during the COVID epidemic, when some of us were fastidious, even obsessive, about disinfecting every surface in our homes. The painting of the artist’s hair recalls the thick, loose brushstrokes of Vincent Van Gogh. The postmodern nature of Levitow’s composition derives from the juxtaposition of the contemporary topic of a bespectacled woman holding a cleanser with the expressive brushstrokes evocative of the late nineteenth century.”
Betty Ann Brown ART & CAKE November 2025
Icons of Resistance: The Contemporary Allegories of Roberta Levitow
“What distinguishes Levitow’s contribution to contemporary painting is not only her revival of ancient techniques, but her ability to repurpose them into vehicles for cultural critique and personal testimony.
Her secular icons resist passive contemplation; they demand that viewers confront the moral and emotional complexities of their time. In her richly detailed, symbol-laden panels, Levitow continues to create spaces where beauty, resistance, humor, and history converge—holding space for the sacred in the everyday.”
Circle Foundation for the Arts Lyon, France, April 2025