Paintings

What do you think you would look like as a doll? This collection of paper dolls and dresses were made in 1898 by American artist and feminist activist Emily Grace Hanks when she was only twelve years old. The tiny waists, ballooning sleeves, and luxurious fabric of these paper dresses reflect common fashion trends among [...]

John La Farge was mainly known for his stained glass work. In the late nineteenth century, La Farge created numerous stained glass pieces for buildings that are now national treasures. Born in New York City to French parents, La Farge grew up bilingually and studied art when at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland and [...]

Lester F. Pross was one of the most pioneering members of the Berea College faculty during his time here. Born in Bristol, Connecticut and graduating from Oberlin College, Pross joined the Berea College art department in 1946. He retired after 45 years in 1991, only to return to the College in 2000 to teach painting [...]

Benjamin Williams Leader was born in the West Midlands of England in 1831. As a young man he attended the Royal Grammar School and studied at the Worcester School of Design in the evenings. In his free time, Leader painted en plein air. In 1854, after working several years for his father, Leader decided to [...]

Charles Warren Eaton’s artistic success came as a young man. His entrance into the art world coincided with a profound change in the prevailing artistic style in America. In the late 1870s the highly realistic and detailed Hudson River School manner, which had dominated the American art scene for over forty years, was giving way [...]

Despite the strong currents of pure abstraction during the mid-twentieth century, Dimitrie Berea forded his own path. Taking after and expanding upon the Fauves and Impressionists, Berea had exhibited internationally from the age of 19. Originally trained at the Bucharest Academy of Architecture, Berea remained in Bucharest and opened an art school, Ileana. Coming to [...]

Arthur Wesley Dow was a prodigious artist and influential art educator near the turn of the century. He taught design, photography, painting, pottery, and printmaking for over thirty years at the Pratt Institute, Columbia Teacher’s College, and the Art Students League in New York City. Born in Ipswich, Massachusetts, Dow maintained a studio there staring [...]

Carlos Cortez Coyle attended the Berea Foundation School. Although he drew as a student he did not devote concentrated time and effort into his art until 1929. Coyle was an avid journaler, and from his diary we know that the beginning of his artistic career coincided with the death of his mother. In his paintings, [...]

Murals have long been celebrated as an effective way to build public morale. During the Great Depression, the federal government hired artists to embellish existing public buildings to present an image of American dignity. Long was commissioned to do work in several courthouses, post offices, and federal buildings in Kentucky. This study is for a [...]

Francesco Torbido was an Italian, Renaissance painter active in Venice and Verona. He was a religious and portrait painter. Torbido is said to have studied with Giorgione. Certainly this double portrait shows the Venetian influence of the renowned artist. From the later part of the 15th century, Venice had a distinctive, thriving and influential art [...]