Artist Trivia: Marguerite Zorach

Art Trivia: Who is this artist?

This artist in the Farnsworth collection was born in Santa Rosa, California. They started to draw at a very young age and were admitted to Stanford University. While at Stanford they traveled to France at the invitation of their aunt.

The day they arrived in Paris, they visited the Salon d’Automne seeing works by Henri Matisse and André Derain, who were Fauvists. Seeing their work had a strong impact on the young artist. Attending the post-impressionist school Académie de La Palette, they studied under John Duncan Fergusson and Jacques-Emile Blanche, who encourage them to find their own style. In 1910, they exhibited at the Société des Artistes Indépendants, and in 1911, the Salon d’Automne, both venues were renowned for their modernist themes.

While in Paris, they socialized with Pablo Picasso, ex-patriate Gertrude Stein, Henri Rousseau, and Henri Matisse. They also met their future spouse there. Moving back to New York City in December 1912, they entered their artwork in the 1913 Armory Show and were invited to participate in the 1916 Forum Exhibition of Modern American Painters. 

Their travels throughout Europe and Asia would greatly influence their work for the rest of their career. After the birth of their daughter, in 1917, they explored textile design, rug hooking, painting on silk, batik, embroidery, crochet, and designed and made clothes for every member of their family. In later years, they worked for the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression and also taught at Columbia University.

Answer:

Marguerite Zorach (née Thompson; September 25, 1887 – June 27, 1968)
Born in Santa Rosa, California, her family moved to Fresno and it was there that she began her education. She started to draw at a very young age and her parents provided her with an education that was heavily influenced by the liberal arts, including music lessons in elementary school, and four years of Latin at Fresno High School. She was admitted to Stanford University in 1908.

At the invitation of her aunt, Harriet Adelaide Harris, she visited Paris. Marguerite visited the Salon d’Automne the very day that she arrived, seeing many works by Henri Matisse and André Derain, known as the Fauvists, or Wild Beasts. It was the intention of her aunt that Thompson attend the École des Beaux-Arts, but Thompson was turned away as she had never drawn a nude from life. Harris then attempted to have Thompson enrolled at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, to study under the academic painter Francis Auburtin. Thompson had no interest in the formulas of academic painting and instead, she chose to attend the post-impressionist school Académie de La Palette, where she studied under John Duncan Fergusson and Jacques-Emile Blanche. 

While in Paris, she socialized with Pablo Picasso, ex-patriate Gertrude Stein, Henri Rousseau, and Henri Matisse through her “Aunt Addie’s” connections. At the Académie de La Palette, she first met her future husband and artistic collaborator, William Zorach. William admired her passionate individuality, and said of her modernist Fauvist artwork, “I just couldn’t understand why such a nice girl would paint such wild pictures.”

After the birth of their second child, Marguerite explored textile design, rug hooking, painting on silk, batik, embroidery, crochet, and designed and made clothes for every member of their family. 

Prolific through her later years, she worked for the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression completing an oil-on-canvas mural in the lobby at the Peterborough, New Hampshire post office, entitled New England Post in Winter, and the mural Autumn for the WPA in Ripley, Tennessee. Marguerite also taught at Columbia University. She died in 1968.