Anne Taylor Nash (1884–1968) was an American painter, largely of portraits. Born Anne Mauger Taylor in Pittsboro,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, Nash did not begin painting until she was forty, being inspired to do so by her friend

Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Elizabeth O'Neill Verner (December 21, 1883 – April 17, 1979) was an artist, author, lecturer, and preservationist who was one of the leaders of the Charleston Renaissance. She has been called "the best-known woman artist of South Carolina of th ...

. She studied art at the

Gibbes Museum of Art The Gibbes Museum of Art, formerly known as the Gibbes Art Gallery, is an art museum in Charleston, South Carolina. Established as the Carolina Art Association in 1858, the museum moved into a new Beaux Arts building at 135 Meeting Street, in t ...

, the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

, the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

in Fontainbleau, and the New England School of Fine Arts, and she was a pupil of Verner's in 1924. She was an active member of the

Southern States Art League The Southern States Art League, originally called the All-Southern Art Association, was formed in the 1920s to draw attention to artists from the southern United States. A number of its early members were closely associated with the Charleston Rena ...

and the Carolina Art Association. Nash married Edmund Strudwick Nash, a descendant of

Francis Nash Francis Nash (October 7, 1777) was a brigadier general (United States), brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Prior to the war, he was a lawyer, public official, and politician in Hillsborough, North ...

and a relative of

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his Light poetry, light verse, of which he wrote more than 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyme, rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York T ...

, in 1906, and shortly thereafter moved to Charleston,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Her portraits were exhibited at the

Gibbes Gibbes is a surname. It may refer to: *Bobby Gibbes (1916–2007), Australian fighter ace * Charles Gibbes (1876–1963), British academic * Frederick Gibbes (1839–1888), Australian politician * George Smith Gibbes (1771–1851), British physic ...

in 1933. In 1937 the family moved to

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, where she remained active for the rest of her life, exhibiting at the

Telfair Museum of Art Telfair Museums, in the historic district of Savannah, Georgia, was the first public art museum in the Southern United States. Founded through the bequest of Mary Telfair (1791–1875), a prominent local citizen, and operated by the Georgia Hi ...

with the Savannah Art Club at least ten times between 1931 and 1958. Her work was once again the subject of a retrospective at the Telfair in 2015.

References

1884 births 1968 deaths American portrait painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters People from Pittsboro, North Carolina Painters from North Carolina Artists from Savannah, Georgia Painters from Georgia (U.S. state) Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts {{US-painter-1880s-stub