Elizabeth Nourse
The Nourse Collection
In 2004 Patricia and Buck Niehoff donated a collection from the estate of Paris Salon artist Elizabeth Nourse (1859-1938) to the Mercantile Library.
Elizabeth Nourse was born in Cincinnati and attended the McMicken School of Design (a precursor to the Cincinnati Art Academy) in classes of Thomas S. Noble. She spent the majority of her adult life in Paris. Her sketchbooks record travels to Russia, Italy, Spain, Austria, Tunisia, and Algeria. Major works by the artist can be found in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Cincinnati Art Museum.
The principal objects in the collection include sixteen Sketchbooks dating from 1874-1923 and containing drawings in pencil, watercolor, and pastel, including studies for major museum paintings.
Curation of the Nourse Collection was made possible by a grant from the Harriette R. Downey Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati Department of Libraries. Sandra Race Geiser is Curator & Admininstrator of the Niehoff Center for Elizabeth Nourse. (sgeiser@mercantilelibrary.com)
At Home in the "Artistic Center of the World"
Elizabeth Nourse left Cincinnati in 1887 as a 28 year-old artist determined to study in Paris. Within one year she was a Paris Salon painter who chose to live for 51 years within a twenty block area of the Paris quartier of Montparnasse. What accounts for her unswerving love affair with this neighborhood? Whistler, Renoir, Monet, and Sargent studied and worked in Montparnasse. All moved away.
At Home in the "Artistic Center of the World" investigates ateliers, venues, and living quarters: Academie Julian, the Jardin du Luxembourg, and the Villa des Dames. What made Montparnasse a touchstone for Nourse's artistic, spiritual, and social life?
Exhibition dates: April 4 - July 18, 2012
The Niehoff Center for Elizabeth Nourse
Exhibit open to members and public
M-F 9 am -5:30 pm; Sat. 10 am - 3 pm
Questions or more information?
Contact Sandra Race Geiser, 513.621.0717
sgeiser@mercantilelibrary.com
