Imogene Robinson Morrell

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Margaret Imogene Robinson Morrell (* 1828 or 1837 in Attleboro , Massachusetts ; † November 21, 1908 in Washington, DC ) was an American art teacher as well as a portrait and history painter from the Düsseldorf School .

Life

Morrell, born Margaret Imogene Robinson, was one of eight children of Otis Robinson (1789–1843) and his wife Sarah Dean Robinson (1793–1871). Through her mother, she was a great-granddaughter of the US politician Josiah Dean . Her artistic training began in Newark, New Jersey , at the age of 16 and continued in New York City . She then taught as an art teacher in Charlestown (Boston) and Auburndale (Massachusetts).

From 1856 to 1858 she lived in Düsseldorf , where she took private lessons with Wilhelm Camphausen and Adolph Schroedter . Presumably she also benefited artistically from the familiarity of her teachers with other protagonists of the Düsseldorf School, in particular with the German-American Emanuel Leutze and his teacher Carl Friedrich Lessing . It is also obvious that her flower painting skills were trained by Alwine Schroedter , Schroedter's wife.

After returning from Germany, she started working again as an art teacher at Lasell Seminary in Auburndale. One of her students there was Elizabeth Jane Gardner . In the summer of 1858, both began to teach at the School of Design and Fine Arts in Worcester, Massachusetts . The history painting Sunday Among the Pilgrims , which they painted together, received an honorable mention in the Boston Transcript newspaper in 1863 .

The First Battle of the Puritans , 1874

In 1864 she and her friend Gardner set off on a trip to Paris , where they spent the next eleven years. She made a living by making copies of masterpieces in the Louvre or the Musée du Luxembourg for American clients . She briefly studied portrait and landscape painting with Louis Français . She took some courses with Thomas Couture . Her friend Gardner studied with Hugues Merle (1822-1881), Jules-Joseph Lefebvre and William Adolphe Bouguereau , whose lover she became and whom she finally married in 1896. Imogene Robinson married Colonel Abram Morrell in 1869, who moved to Washington in 1872 while his wife stayed with Gardner in Paris. When the Paris Commune exploded a powder magazine in the Jardin du Luxembourg in 1871 and caused great damage to the area, Morrell and Gardner suffered wounds in their completely ruined studio.

In 1875 Morrell returned to the United States. She brought two of her history paintings with her, which were exhibited in Boston and caused a stir there. In 1876 she moved to Washington, DC Her historical painting The First Battle of the Puritans was exhibited that year at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia and was awarded a medal. Her husband died in 1879. In the same year, Morrell founded the National Academy of Fine Arts in Washington and became its director for nearly a decade. In 1887 this school went bankrupt. As a portrait painter, she enjoyed the demand of many prominent clients, including John Adams Dix , John Canfield Spencer , Howell Cobb , Frances Cleveland , Collis P. Huntington , William Wilson Corcoran (1798–1888) and James A. Garfield . In 1896 she suffered the loss of around 200 paintings due to a fire in a warehouse, an event that left her penniless in one fell swoop. She spent the end of her life withdrawn and in modest circumstances, supported by friends, especially Gardner.

Work (selection)

John Adams Dix . 1883
  • The Indian Vespers. 1857.
  • with Elizabeth Jane Gardner : Sunday Among the Pilgrims. 1863.
  • David Before Saul. 1869.
  • The First Battle of the Puritans. 1874. Awarded a medal at the Centennial Exhibition , Philadelphia 1876
  • Washington Welcoming the Provision Trains at Newburg, NY, 1778. 1874.
  • numerous portraits, including John Adams Dix . 1883.
  • The Triumphant Entrance of Washington into Boston, 1776. 1902.

literature

  • Morrell, Imogene Robinson. In: The Biographical Dictionary of America. Volume 7, p. 484 ( digitized version )
  • David Sellin: Imogene Robinson Morrell (1837-1908). In: Resource Library Magazine. Peyton Wright Gallery, November 8, 2002 ( website )
  • Paula E. Calvin, Deborah A. Deacon: American Women Artists in Wartime, 1776-2010 . McFarland & Company, Jefferson / North Carolina 2011, ISBN 978-0-7864-4987-3 , pp. 60 f. ( Google Books )

Web links

Commons : Imogene Robinson Morrell  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ When applying for a passport in 1864, she stated her age under oath as 37 years. As part of a census in 1900, her date of birth was October 1837. - See David Sellin , 2008.
  2. ↑ Bettina Baumgärtel , Sabine Schroyen, Lydia Immerheiser, Sabine Teichgröb: Directory of foreign artists. Nationality, studies and stay in Düsseldorf. In: Bettina Baumgärtel (Hrsg.): The Düsseldorf School of Painting and its international impact 1819–1918 . Volume 1, Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86568-702-9 , p. 436.
  3. ↑ First battle between the puritans and the indians , website on the history of the image with biographical notes to life Morrells the portal latourcamoufle.com , accessed on 24 April 2017th
personal data
SURNAME Morrell, Imogene Robinson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Morrell, Margaret Imogene Robinson (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American art teacher as well as portrait and history painter from the Düsseldorf School
DATE OF BIRTH 1828 or 1837
PLACE OF BIRTH Attleboro , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH November 21, 1908
Place of death Washington, DC