Elizabeth Hamilton Huntington

Elizabeth Hamilton Huntington
Elizabeth Hamilton Huntington
Born	October 8th, 1878; South Braintree, Massachusetts
Died	1963; Wellesley, Massachusetts
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Massachusetts College of the Arts
Known for	Still Life, Floral

Elizabeth Hamilton Huntington, (October 8, 1878 – 1963) was a 20th-century American painter best known for her still life and floral paintings, often executed in pastel on paper.^[1]

Early life and education

Elizabeth Hamilton Thayer (later Elizabeth Hamilton Huntington) was born in South Braintree, Massachusetts in 1878.^[2] Huntington was related to the painter Abbot Thayer, via her mother, Alexander Hamilton.^[2]

She attended the Massachusetts College of the Arts in Boston where she studied under Ernest Lee Major.^[3]^[4]

Career

During her engagement to her future husband, Raymond, Huntington was diagnosed with polio that paralyzed the right side of her body. In order to continue painting she had to manipulate her non-functional right arm using her left arm. Huntington's husband hand made a desk that could be fit to a car in order for her to paint.^[4]

Huntington's disability greatly affected her ability to take part in the art community of Boston. Huntington created a salon in her home, where people would show their art and give lectures. In 1933, this group became officially known as the Wellesley Society of Artists^[2] The WSA is still in operation today.^[5]

Huntington's work was exhibited in the late 2000s and early 2010s both at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts and at the now-defunct Floria Museum for Women Artists in DeLand, Florida.^[6]^[7]^[8] Huntington's work was collected by champions of the unknown, like Samuel M. Robbins of Newton, Massachusetts.^[9]

Personal life

Huntington married Raymond Edwards Huntington on June 9, 1909 in Wollaston, Massachusetts.

Death and legacy

Huntington painted until her death in 1963.^[2]

Huntington left approximately 5,000 works in oil, pastel, and watercolor.^[2]

A collection of her materials is held at the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art and the Peabody Essex Museum library.^[10]

Exhibitions

2009: The Nature of Apples, Fruitlands Museum^[6]
White Mountain Artists 1840-1940, Florida Museum for Women Artists^[7]
New England Impressionists Rediscovered, Fruitlands Museum^[8]

Books

Huntington's book, Water Colors by Elizabeth T. Huntington was published in Boston in 1939.^[11]

Huntington's paintings are featured in several exhibition catalogs/books, including:

Paintings by American Women: Selections from the Collection of Louise and Alan Sellars (1989)^[12]
Women Artists in the White Mountains, 1940-1940 (1990)^[13]
Things of Beauty: Floral Still-Lifes: Selected from the Louise and Alan Sellars Collection of Art by American Women (1992)^[14]

References

^ "Elizabeth Hamilton Huntington". Widewalls. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Wellesley Society of Artists Celebrates 75 Years, WellesleyWeston Magazine". www.wellesleywestonmagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-03-23.
^ Huntington, Samuel (1915). The Huntington Family in America. Huntington Family Association. p. 732.
^ ^a ^b "Cynthia Melendy: Holding the moment of bloom in art". Retrieved 2017-03-04.
^ "About the WSA". Wellesley Society of Artists. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
^ ^a ^b Bergeron, Chris. "Video: Fruitlands Museum exhibit an orchard of visually tasty delights". The Kansan - Newton, KS. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
^ ^a ^b Kahn, Eve M. (2012-04-19). "These Women Refused to Stay in the Kitchen". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
^ ^a ^b "Fruitlands gallery reopens with 'Rediscovered'". Lowell Sun. 2011-06-02. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
^ Marquard, Bryan. "Samuel M. Robbins, 93; collected neglected paintings". BostonGlobe.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
^ "Elizabeth Hamilton Thayer Huntington papers, [ca. 1903-1961]". www.aaa.si.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
^ Huntington, Elizabeth Hamilton Thayer; Arts (Boston, Mass.) (1939). Water colors by Elizabeth T. Huntington 2d. Boston: The Arts. OCLC 903383064.
^ Sternberg, Paul E; Louise and Alan Sellars Collection of Art by American Women (1989). Paintings by American women: selections from the collection of Louise and Alan Sellars : to be exhibited at several locations including, Brenau College, Gainesville, Georgia, Colquitt County Arts Center, Moultrie, Georgia, Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences, Macon, Georgia, Kennesaw State College, Marietta, Georgia. Marietta, Ga.: Louise and Alan Sellars Collection of Art by American Women. OCLC 19930703.
^ MacIntyre, Frances Sheffield (1990). Women artists in the White Mountains, 1840-1940: selected works, March 13-20, 1990, Upper Jewett Exhibition Corridor, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. Place of publication not identified: Frances S. MacIntyre. OCLC 429606053.
^ Sternberg, Paul E; Thompson, Gordon; Brenau College (1992). Things of beauty: floral still-lifes : Selected From The Louise and Alan Sellars Collection of Art by American Women. OCLC 82970712.