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Ellen "Nellie" Augusta Knopf (September 19, 1875 – April 30, 1962) was an American landscape painter, and art professor.
Ellen "Nellie" Augusta Knopf | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 19, 1875 Cook County Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | April 30, 1962 Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan, USA |
| Education | Art institute of Chicago |
| Known for | Landscape and Still Life Paintings |
Early Life
[edit]Born in Cook County, Chicago, Illinois to Augustus C. Knopf and Caroline S. Hoffert Knopf, Nellie was the youngest of two children. [1]
Education and Career
[edit]Knopf graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1900 where she studied under John Vanderpoel. Shortly after her schooling she began teaching at Illinois State Woman's College which later became known as MacMurray College. She received her doctorate in 1935 and remained there for 43 years, eventually becoming the art director. [2] Deaf and never married, Knopf was well known and respected for her landscape and still-life paintings. She spent several summers (from 1910 to 1917) studying with Charles Woodbury, a modernist/impressionist in Ogunguit, Maine.
Heading West
[edit]Starting in 1921 she shifted her focus out west to the Rocky Mountains. She began spending summers and sabbaticals driving her own car to the vast and diverse landscapes the west it had to offer. In what she described as her "miles of paintings" one can find many paintings of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, California, Wyoming, and Montana.[3] She spent the summer of 1922 studying in Colorado with Sven Birger Sandzen receiving training in pointillism and impressionism. She took these methods and developed her own modernist style that included vibrant colors and heavy layers of paint. The next ten years of her life revealed her deep passion for landscape painting. She spent two full summers in the majesty of Glacier National Park from 1925 and 1926 and was one of the first women to paint there.[4]
Legacy
[edit]During her 50 year painting career, Knopf produced around 700 oil and watercolor paintings. She passed away April 30, 1962 at the age of 87. Five years after her death, MacMurray College held an art exhibition featuring her work in honor of her memory.
- ^ "Ellen Augusta "Nellie" Knopf (1875-1962) - Find A..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
- ^ Kovinick, Phil (1976). The Woman Artist in the American West. Flagstaff, Arizona: Northland Press. p. 35.
- ^ Kovinick, Phil (1976). The Woman Artist in the American West. Flagstaff, Arizona: Northland Press. p. 35.
- ^ Ivy, Tabby (2015). A Timeless Legacy. United States: Hockaday Museum of Art. pp. 15–18.