Nancy Marlene Friese (born 1948) is an American painter, printmaker, and educator. She is known for landscape paintings, and prints which are often colorful. Friese is a professor at

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

, and an elected

National Academician The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, a ...

in the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

in New York City. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally in 30 solo, and 170 group shows.

Early life and education

She was born in 1948, in

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...

, and was raised in Ohio. Her great-grandparents had a

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (building), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses * Nguni homestead, a cluster of houses inhabited by a single extended family, typically with a kraal ...

Buxton, North Dakota Buxton is a city in Traill County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 348 at the 2020 census. Buxton was founded in 1880. History Buxton was founded in 1880 in Buxton Township as a townsite along the Great Northern Railroad in 1 ...

. She holds a

BS degree A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

(1970) in nursing from

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

, and an

MFA degree A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

(1980) in painting and printmaking from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, in New Haven, Connecticut. Friese also studied in the graduate painting program at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, and studied both printmaking and painting at the

Art Academy of Cincinnati The Art Academy of Cincinnati is a private college of art and design in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded as the McMicken School of Design in 1869, and was a department of the University of Cincinnati, and later in 1887, became the Art Academy ...

in the late 1970s.

Career

Friese has consistently worked as a ''

plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting is c ...

'' artist for much of her career.

"A sense of the local is central to Nancy Friese’s work, which documents places and events that are specific and personal, while offering them up to be shared by the viewer. Friese is a landscape artist, and, though she lives and works most of the year in
Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
, she spends several weeks each summer in rural
Buxton, North Dakota Buxton is a city in Traill County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 348 at the 2020 census. Buxton was founded in 1880. History Buxton was founded in 1880 in Buxton Township as a townsite along the Great Northern Railroad in 1 ...
, on the land her great-grandfather homesteaded when he emigrated from Norway."

She captures images in watercolor and oil or acrylic paints, with prints created through woodcuts, etchings, drypoints and monotypes, and ties visual observations to experience. ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' writes about Friese's ''Long Summer Light'' as presenting "the bounty of an old tree's vast summer boughs as they stretch over a honeyed field". A faculty member at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) since 1990, Friese has "served as a board member for the

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their understan ...

, the

RISD Museum The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD Museum) is an art museum integrated with the Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence, Rhode Island, US. The museum was co-founded with the school in 1877. It is the 20th-largest art m ...

North Dakota Museum of Art The North Dakota Museum of Art (NDMOA) is the official art museum of the American state of North Dakota. Located on the campus of the University of North Dakota, in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the museum is a private not-for-profit institution. ...

Foundation, FirstWorks Providence, and Buxton in Bloom North Dakota, and she has been a repeat juror with the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

, and Japan US Friendship Commission in Washington, D.C.". In 1990, she was one of three American artists selected as 'Artists at Giverny' to live and paint at

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...

Giverny Giverny () is a Communes of France, commune in the northern French Departments of France, department of Eure.Normandy, France Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular Normandy (mostly the British Chann ...

, funded by the

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

Collections

Friese's work is held in numerous public collections, including the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse''), meaning all adult re ...

; the

Florence Griswold Museum The Florence Griswold Museum is an art museum at 96 Lyme Street in Old Lyme, Connecticut centered on the home of Florence Griswold (1850–1937), which was the center of the Old Lyme Art Colony, a main nexus of American Impressionism. The museu ...

, in Connecticut;

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

; the

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openi ...

, in Washington, D.C.;

Muscarelle Museum of Art The Muscarelle Museum of Art is a university museum affiliated with the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. While the Museum only dates to 1983, the university art collection has been in existence since its first gift – a p ...

, in Virginia;

Museum of Fine Arts Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 work ...

; the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

; the

in Rhode Island; and the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University. Although it embraces all cultures and period ...

, in Connecticut, among many others.

Exhibitions

Solo and two-person exhibitions

* 1987, MacKenzie Gallery,

College of Wooster {{Infobox university , image = College of Wooster seal.png , image_upright = .6 , name = The College of Wooster , former_names = University of Wooster (1866–1915) , motto ...

, Wooster, Ohio * 1990, ''Nancy Friese: New Work'',

, Grand Forks, North Dakota * 1990, ''Landscapes by Nancy Friese'', University Center Gallery,

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

, Missoula, Montana * 1992, ''Paintings and Prints'',

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Hartell Gallery, Ithaca, New York * 1994, ''Japanese Impressions: Prints by Nancy Friese and Keiji Shinohara'', Bannister Gallery,

Rhode Island College Rhode Island College (RIC) is a public college in Rhode Island, United States, with much of the land in Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, and other parts in North Providence, Rhode Island, North Providence. The college was established in 18 ...

, Providence, Rhode Island * 1999, ''Nancy Friese and Henry Finkelstein'', Simon Gallery, Morristown, New Jersey * 2001, ''Nancy Friese: Watercolors'', Pepper Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts * 2002, ''Re-Imaging New York'', North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, North Dakota * 2007, ''Nancy Friese: From Nature'', Alva Gallery, New London, Connecticut * 2011, ''Translating Nature: Prints'' by Nancy Friese,

, Ohio * 2016, ''Encircling Trees and Radiant Skies'', (traveling exhibition),

Newport Art Museum The Newport Art Museum, founded in 1912 as the Art Association of Newport, is located at 76 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. The museum operates a gallery in the John N. A. Griswold House, a National Historic Landmark that is one of t ...

in Newport, Rhode Island;

in Grand Forks, North Dakota; Alexandre Hogue Gallery at

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

in Tulsa, Oklahoma * 2022, ''Eloquent Landscapes: 1982–2022'', Cade Tompkins Projects, Providence, Rhode Island

Group exhibitions

* 1990, ''Moving the Margins I'', Emily Davis Gallery, Akron, Ohio * 1998, ''Six Painters'',

David Winton Bell Gallery The David Winton Bell Gallery is a contemporary art gallery at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The gallery was established in 1971 through a donation from the Bell family. The Bell Gallery serves as a hub of contemporary art within t ...

, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; members of the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Museum of Women * 2009, ''Simmons Collects: Celebrating Woman Artists'', Trustman Gallery,

Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University Simmons University (previously Simmons College) is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1899 by ...

(now Simmons University), Boston, Massachusetts * 2011, ''1st National Exhibition of Intaglio Prints: The National Arts Club'',

The National Arts Club The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the ''New York Times'', to "stimulate, foster, and promote publ ...

, New York City, New York; curated by Roberta Waddell * 2012, ''The Annual 2012'', National Academy Museum, New York City, New York * 2015, ''189th Annual Exhibition'', National Academy Museum, New York City, New York * 2020, ''Master Drawings New York'', New York City, New York * 2021–2022, ''On the Basis of Art: 150 Years of Women at Yale'',

, New Haven, Connecticut * 2024, ''191st Annual: Academy Style'',

, New York City, New York

References

External links

RISD Faculty Profile

Video: Nancy Friese, Long Summer Light
via YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Friese, Nancy 1948 births Living people 19th-century American women painters 20th-century American women painters American landscape painters Art Academy of Cincinnati People from Fargo, North Dakota People from Danbury, Connecticut Rhode Island School of Design faculty University of California, Berkeley University of North Dakota alumni Yale University alumni