Emma Richardson Cherry (February 28, 1859 – October 29, 1954) was an American artist known for her paintings of landscapes, still lifes and portraits.

Early life

Emma Richardson was born in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in northeastern Illinois, United States. It is located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River west of Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, second-most populous city in Illinois, with a popul ...

on February 28, 1859 to James Perkins and Frances Ann (Mostow) Richardson.

Career

Richardson was a co-founder of the Kansas City Art Association and School of Design, after moving to the city and establishing an art studio in 1885. She was living in Nebraska when she met Dillon Brook Cherry, whom she married. In 1888, she began a two-year tour of Europe in order to study art. She was a student of

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

() in Paris and of the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

periodically from 1879 to 1885. She studied with

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later became the Parsons School of Design. ...

at his Shinnecock School of Art in 1896. She was a member of the Denver Art Club as well as the Western Art Association, from which she received a gold medal in 1891. By the 1890s, Cherry and her husband relocated to Houston, where she found the former downtown home of ex-Houston-mogul,

William Marsh Rice William Marsh Rice (March 14, 1816 – September 23, 1900) was an American businessman and entrepreneur who made his fortune in Texas. He is best known for leaving his fortune to fund the establishment of Rice University in Houston, Texas. Hi ...

. She acquired the house and moved it to Fargo Street in the Montrose area. She was an organizer of the Houston Art League, which was founded in 1900, and later formed the basis for Houston's first art museum. In 1903, Cherry was painting in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and its vicinity. Among her sitters were

Orrington Lunt Orrington Lunt (1815–1897) was one of the founders of Northwestern University, Illinois, United States, and was known as the "father of Evanston" or the "discoverer of Evanston". He was also actively involved with the Garrett Biblical Institu ...

, the donor of the Library of the Northwestern University, and Bishop Foster, a former president of the same university. She also completed a portrait of a former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Mr. O. Chanute. An exhibition of ten portraits by Richardson was held in Chicago in 1903 and was favorably noticed. Richardson was one of the co-founders of the Houston Public School Art League (later the Houston Art League, ), a group dedicated to supporting arts education in public schools. The opening of the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...

in 1924 was in thanks to the League who planned the museum and dedicated land to the project in 1917.

Death and legacy

Cherry died on October 29, 1954. She was commissioned to paint large wall murals at the Julia Ideson Library in Houston, and these works are still extant in 2020. Her house on Fargo Street was later moved to Sam Houston Park in downtown Houston, the first historic structure to relocate to that park. As of 2020, it is available for tours, where some of Cherry's art work is on display.

References

External Links

Missouri Remembers: Artists in Missouri through 1951
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry, Emma Richardson 1859 births People from Aurora, Illinois American portrait painters 1954 deaths Painters from Illinois 19th-century American painters 19th-century American women painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters Académie Julian alumni Art Students League of New York alumni Artists from Houston Painters from Texas Académie Delécluse alumni