National Treasure

LUCHITA HURTADO painted in relative obscurity for most of her life. At 98, she’s finally receiving the recognition she deserves.

- Chris Wiley

One of the first things Luchita Hurtado does when we sit down together at a sunny sidewalk café near her apartment in Santa Monica is announce her age: “I’m 98 and still having fun!” Two years shy of a century, she has just mounted her first New York solo exhibition at the venerable Hauser & Wirth gallery, and is gearing up for a traveling survey that opens at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London on May 23. It’s a stunning achievement for an artist of any age, but Hurtado’s situation is unique—just three years ago, the paintings that will now be touring the world were hidden away in a cramped storage room, gathering dust.