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Ballou, Bertha
| Last Name: | Ballou |
|---|---|
| First Name: | Bertha |
| Dates: |
*1891 (Date of Birth)
*1978 (Date of Death)
|
| Biography/History: | Bertha Ballou, the daughter of Colonel Charles Clarendon Ballou, an army commander, and Cora (Hendrick) Ballou, Lived for a time in Hornby, NY, but, because of her father's military assignments, spent many years at such frontier outposts as Fort Sill, OK and Fort Niobrara, NE. Ballou's Formal studies in art began at Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, VA (1908 -1910). Later, following a trip to the Orient, she attended the ASL (1911-1912) and the Corcoran School of Art, Washington, DC (1916-1920). She next settled in Spokane, WA, before going east to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1921-1924), and traveling to France and Florence, Italy, on a fellowship from the Tiffany Foundation (1925-1927). Upon her return, she made Spokane her permanent home. Ballou's first western sketches, done as a young girl, were of frontier soldiers. It was years later, however, after settling in Spokane, that she again turned to western themes. Although a portraitist first, she did numerous sketches of eastern Washington landscapes. In 1934 she also completed several large studies of historic Native Americans of the Northwest from photographs. The Spokane Public Library owns two-- of Chief Joseph and Chief Moses. The artist 'rediscovered' the frontier while working on mural commissioned for First Federal Savings and Loan Association, Spokane, in 1948. Asked to re-create life at Spokane House, a pioneer outpost of the 1810-1825 era, she devoted months to research and lived with the Colville tribe to depict a scene, which included Native Americans, trappers, and other personages of the time. Early in her career, Ballou exhibted in New York, Washington, DC, and Europe. Among her one-person exhibitions were those held at the Grace Campbell Memorial Museum (1928, 1947) and the Spokane Public Library (1963). Her groups shows included those of the Spokane Art Association and the Artists of the Pacific Northwest, Seattle. Ballou, who was briefly married to Frank D. Buckler in the 1930s, taught at Holy Names College, Spokane, in the late 1950's. Her works, which are primarily oils, with some charcoal sketches, etchings, and bas-relief portraits, are in the collections of the Grace Campbell Memorial Museum, Eastern Washington Memorial Museum, and Spokane County Court House, all in Spokane, and Washington State University, Pullman.|Information taken directly from "An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West " by Phil Kovinich and Marian Yoshiki Kovinich. DATES: 1891-1978 (Lifespan) NOTES: Dates according to "An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West" by Phil Kovinich and Marian Yoshiki Kovinich. An excerpt from the book can be found in accession file #3052. |
| Related Objects: |
3052.1 (Painting, Edward H. Hughes, c. 1955)
3052.2 (Painting, Marie Byrne Hughes, c. 1955)
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