Edith Morehouse
American Impressionist Edith Morehouse Still Life Painting, Titled "Imperial"
20th Century

Price:$600

$795List Price

About the Item

"Imperial" by Edith Morehouse (1890-1979) Signed lower right: E. Morehouse Inscribed verso: Imperial - 14x18 Framed dimensions: 24 1/2 x 21 in. EDITH LOUISE TORRES MOREHOUSE (January 22, 1890 –August 5, 1979) A.K.A. “Edith L. Morehouse” Still-life and portrait painter in oil. Edith L. Morehouse is remembered as one of the leading portrait artists and art instructors working in Nassau County, New York, during the mid-20 th century. Edith Morehouse was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Emma Dayton (1860 –1947) and Charles Torres (1845 – 1915). When she was a child, her father was employed as a druggist, and the family resided on Union Street in Brooklyn. Through her mother she was descended from the earliest Dutch settlers of Long Island. Edith Morehouse attended Grammar School 32 and later studied art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, under the noted portraitist Jane Freeman (1871 – 1963) and with William Oberhardt (1882 – 1958) of New York City. Following her time at Pratt, Morehouse also traveled to Paris to study painting. Some sources also indicate she may have studied with Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1847 – 1928), Robert Henri (1865 – 1929) and Irving R. Wiles (1861 – 1948). Considering that both Bridgman and Henri died before she is known to have taken up working as a portrait artist, studies with them seem unlikely. Studies with Irving Wiles or his daughter, the portrait painter Gladys Lee Wiles (1888 – 1983), is more of a possibility as both he and his daughter had connections through clients to Garden City, where she resided. Originally known primarily for her floral still-life works, Morehouse began working as a portrait artist in about 1931. She received great acclaim in that genre as one reviewer noted a decade later: “Something of a speed merchant once she starts on a portrait, the apparent ease with which she works is the result of many years of painstaking care and training.” For many years she maintained a studio in New York City as well as one located behind her home at 86 Adams Street in Garden City. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Morehouse was awarded a number of solo exhibitions at prominent galleries and institutions and routinely received praise for her works. At the 1941 Nassau County Art League exhibition one reviewer remarked: “Among the portraits a likeness of the very beautiful Gladys Richardson Jones by Edith Morehouse dominates the south wall…” That same year her solo exhibition at the Argent Galleries in New York City again received praise: “If there is anything we admire in a hifalutin’ artist, it’s a fine fellow-feeling for his sitter, and that is something that Edith Morehouse… has for hers… Mrs. Morehouse has just proved in a one-man show at Argent Gallery, 42 W. 57 th St., New York, that the human visage need look like neither frustrated codfish nor Shambles-in-the-Bathtub to be Art.” In addition to solid reviews, Morehouse was a consistent winner of awards and prizes, including “best-in-show” awards at the 1946 Long Island Artists’ Exhibition and the 1948 Malverne Artists Exhibition. From the 1940s through the 1960s Morehouse was one of the most sought after portrait painters for members of Nassau County Society, and among her known sitters are: Ms. Constance Bezer (West Hempstead, NY); Mrs. Clyde Bozarth (West Hempstead, NY); Miss Phyllis Campbell (East Rockaway, NY); Mrs. Helen du Bon (Garden City, NY); Miss Roanne Hicks (Port Washington, NY); Gladys Richardson Jones (Long Island, NY); Mrs. Victor King (Mitchel Field, LI); Mrs. Carey Longmire (New York); Harry Warner Morehouse (Garden City, NY); Mrs. Betty Vanderbilt Palmer (Garden City, NY); Mrs. Leroy Pitt (West Hempstead, NY); Miss Marion Pullar (Queens, NY); Mrs. Edwin Seymour (Garden City, NY); Mrs. Russ Symington (New York); Mrs. W. W. Whipple (Garden City, NY); Mrs. John E. Woodward (Stewart Manor, NY). As an art instructor, Morehouse taught dozens if not hundreds of Long Island residents how to paint. At her height, she had over thirty students in her day and evening classes, with each class being ten months long beginning each September and concluding the following summer. When interviewed about her teaching technique, Morehouse noted: “I always try to give individual attention to my students… and to show them how to do a certain thing, instead of just criticizing their work.” In 1948 she organized a major exhibition of her many students’ works at her studio and in 1950 she served as juror for the Malverne Artists Exhibition. During this period, she shared her home with her sister, the painter Helen du Bon Hyde (1899 – 1988). Edith L. Morehouse died on Sunday, the 5 th of August 1979 at the age of eighty-nine years. It not known where her services were organized from nor where she was finally interred. Though there are undoubtedly other exhibitions in which Morehouse participated, those presently known include the following: Art League of Nassau County, Nassau County, NY, 1938, 1941, 1942 (prize), 1951-52, 1955 (prize), 1957, 1962 (prize); Studio Guild, New York, NY, 1941; New York Studio Guild Traveling Exhibition, Redding, CT, 1941 (prize); Argent Galleries, New York, NY, 1941 (solo); New York Public Library, New York, NY, 1941 (solo); Allied Artists of America, New York, NY, 1941, 1943; National Association of Women Artists, New York, NY, 1941, 1949, 1974; Garden City Hotel, Garden City, NY, 1942 (solo); Nassau Red Cross Chapter’s War Fund Drive Exhibition, Garden City, NY, 1943-44; Nassau County Fair, Mineola, NY, 1946 (demonstrator); The Long Island Artists’ Exhibition, Roslyn, NY, 1946 (prize); Rivoli Theatre Exhibition, Melville, NY, 1947 (solo); Edith Morehouse Studio Exhibition, Garden City, NY, 1947 (solo), 1948 (group); Malverne Artists Exhibition, Malverne, NY, 1948 (prize); Hofstra College Four Artist Exhibition, Hempstead, NY, 1948; Calderone Theater Exhibition, Melville, NY, 1950 (solo); Great Northern Hotel, New York, NY, 1952. Morehouse’s works are not known to be held in the collection of any public institutions. The majority of her works reside in private collections throughout the United States.

Creator:
Edith Morehouse (1894 - 1956, American)
Creation Year:
20th Century
Dimensions:
Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)Width: 14 in (35.56 cm)
Medium:
Oil,Board
Movement Style:
American Impressionist
Period:
20th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU2211211409832

$1,350

H 12 in W 12 in D 0.75 in

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