As a young artist struggling to make a name for herself, the 1950s were not the best of times. First of all, she was (is) a woman in what was then a very macho art world. Second, having come to art through the conservative Cooper's Union, both her painting and drawing instructors were Realists. It was all she ever knew. Thus, at a time when Abstract Expressionism was all the rage, she was painting highly recognizable trees, windows, flowers, cows, figures, and landscapes. Her work sold, but not for the prices the men's work brought down and not with the same wild enthusiasm garnered by those of the New York School. Her membership in this group was only nominal, a member having to do more with geography and friendships than style. She painted what she knew in the only manner she knew how. (http://art-now-and-then.blogspot.nl/2017/03/lois-dodd.html)