Marian Williams Steele (American, 1912 - 2001), Dancer

Oil on canvas, signed at lower right, inscribed to verso, presented in a giltwood frame.

Stretcher size 16 x 12 in.; Frame dimensions 23 3/4 x 19 3/4 in.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Marian Williams Steele was an accomplished landscape and portrait artist. She studied at the Trenton School of Industrial Arts, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and was awarded a scholarship for European study. After returning, she was invited to study and paint at the Albert C. Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.

Steele maintained studios in Cambridge and Gloucester, Massachusetts. She travelled extensively and enjoyed close friendships with accomplished New England artists including Mary Bryan and Emile Gruppe with whom she occasionally painted. She was commissioned to paint numerous celebrities and sports figures including Mohammed Ali, Mario Andretti, and Joe Namath.

Steele was a member of prestigious art associations including the Guild of Boston Artists, the California Art Association, the Rockport Art Association, the Cambridge Art Association, and the American Association of Professional Artists, among others. She exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Salmagundi Club on Fifth Avenue in New York City, the Los Angeles Museum of Art, the Long Beach Arts Association, the Oakland Museum, the Montclair Museum, the American Artists Professional League, the Rockport Art Association, and Harvard University. (Adapted from The Marian Williams Steele Gallery)

Good estate condition.