Artist Birthday Quiz for 4/1~

Posted in Artist Birthday Quiz by Christy

What artist was a former slave, factory worker, and homeless welfare recipient who died leaving behind over 1200 drawings and paintings?

What American artist made a journey to England in 1878, to ensure accuracy for a book illustration job, and remained there for most of his life?

Answers here~ https://schristywolfe.com/2015/04/01/april-1/

10Jul2016

Camille Pissarro: Born July 10, 1830

Posted in Artists Born Today Include: by Christy

Pissarro in fact was the only artist who participated in all eight Impressionist exhibitions and he was a much-respected father figure to his colleagues…His talents as a teacher made him influential even among artists of greater stature than himself—Cézanne and Gauguin, for example…During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1, when his home at Louveciennes was overrun by the German invaders and many of his paintings were destroyed, Pissarro joined Monet in England. In 1872 he settled at Pontoise, where he introduced Cézanne to painting out of doors…In 1885 he met Seurat and for several years afterwards he experimented with Neo-Impressionism; in about 1890, however, he reverted to his Impressionist style, though with freer brushwork than in his early work…From about 1895 deterioration of his eyesight caused him to give up painting out of doors and many of his late works are urban scenes painted from windows (usually of hotels) in Paris and elsewhere…In addition to a large output of paintings and drawings, he was the most prolific printmaker among the Impressionists, working in a variety of techniques and sometimes mixing them.
FROM http://artuk.org/discover/artists/pissarro-camille-18301903

http://www.degas-painting.info/impresionists/camille_pissarro_biography.htm

6May2016

Nora Clench~ May 6, 1867-May 17, 1938

Posted in Other Notable Birthdays by Christy

World renowned violinist Nora Clench was a child prodigy, born Esther Leonora Clench in what is now Ontario, Canada. Nora made her debut as a violinist at the age of 8. When she was fifteen she entered the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany, and after graduating in 1889 she became first violinist and leader of an orchestra in Buffalo, New York. She later toured Europe and eventually moved to London. • In 1900 Clench temporarily gave up playing the violin in order to go to Paris to paint. When she returned to music she founded the all-female “Nora Clench Quartet”, which played a prominent role in the music of fin de siecle London. • Clench again retired from the violin in 1908, at the age of 41, when she married the Australian landscape painter Arthur Streeton. The Nora Clench Quartet continued without her. In 1923, the Streeton family moved to Australia. In 1937 Streeton was given a knighthood for his services to fine art, and Clench became Lady Streeton. • Nora Clench died in Australia in 1938; her husband died in September 1943 after a long illness. The couple’s property with its house, studio and cottage, in 5 acres of garden, remains in the ownership of the Streeton family today.

Biography & Photos~
http://www.riversidestmarys.biz/story-of-nora-clench/
Program of her farewell appearance~ https://archive.org/details/cihm_36309

Nude Study (1903) attributed to Nora Clench

2Apr2016

Clifford Berryman: Born April 2, 1869

Posted in Artists Born Today Include: by Christy

Clifford K. Berryman (1869-1949) was a Pulitzer Prize–winning editorial cartoonist, perhaps best known for inspiring the Teddy Bear toy. As a draftsman, illustrator, and cartoonist, Berryman always worked in pen and ink. Berryman satirized both Democrats and Republicans with a light-hearted approach.

Born April 2, 1869 in Clifton, Kentucky, he never attended art school and was entirely self-taught. His first job, in 1886, was as a draftsman at the United States Patent Office in D.C. From 1891 to 1896, he worked as a general illustrator and it was during this time that he learned cartooning by studying contemporary cartoons and copying the artist’ styles.

Berryman’s illustration entitled “And Boys, Remember the Maine!”, which appeared in the Washington Post on April 3, 1898, depicts an angry Uncle Sam addressing sailors as the USS Maine sinks in the background. “Remember the Maine,” became the battle-cry for American sailors during the Spanish-American War.

Berryman originated the “Teddy Bear” in his illustration “Drawing the Line in Mississippi”, published November 16, 1902 in the Post. It showed President Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a captured cub during a bear hunt. This is the cartoon which inspired New York store owner Morris Michtom to create a new toy and call it the Teddy Bear. This little bear appeared in cartoons drawn by Berryman throughout Roosevelt’s career.

Berryman drew thousands of cartoons, first with the Washington Post and then with the Washington Star, where he drew cartoons until his death on December 11, 1949. Berryman’s cartoons can be found at the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and George Washington University.