Elizabeth Nourse: Artistic Influences

"Woman with Harp"
by Elizabeth Nourse

"Elizabeth Nourse never studied with Frank Duveneck, Cincinnati's best-known nineteenth-century painter and teacher, but several of her close friends did and must have discussed his classes with her. Duveneck's influence among local artists was pervasive, and although there is no record that Nourse ever consulted with him, she obviously experimented with the bravura brushwork of his early canvases in her 'Old Man and Child' and 'Head of a Little Boy.' The layers of pigment with abrupt tonal contrasts on the faces and hands of these subjects is similar to those seen in Duveneck's 'Whistling Boy' of 1872, but Nourse set her figures against a light background and restrained her handling of the clothing.

There were other influences at this time as well. Cincinnati's Golden Age, so called because of the number of artists of national and international reputation at work in the city, lasted from about 1830-1900. During these years Cincinnati attracted professional artists because of the patronage it offered and art students because of its educational facilities. As a result Nourse experienced far more artistic stimulation from talented fellow students and from her environment than might be expected in a provincial American city of the time.

Although Elizabeth remained at McMicken another year to study sculpture, her decision to make a career as a painter seems to have been made by 1880. That was the year she found work as an illustrator of magazines and brochures. Additionally, she was offered a position as a teacher of drawing, but declined it in order to concentrate upon her painting. This indicates how determined she was to succeed as a professional artist and also gives evidence of her characteristic independence."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Cincinnati 'Societaire' by Mary Alice Heekin Burke in "Elizabeth Nourse, 1859-1938: A Salon Career.")