Martha Simkins (American, 1866-1969), Bittersweet Flowers in Glass Bowl

Oil on board, circa 1955, signed at lower left, presented in a period carved frame.

Panel 24 x 18 in.; Frame dimensions 33 5/8 x 27 1/2 in.

Private Collection, Graham, North Carolina

Born in South Carolina, Martha Simkins's family settled in Corsicana, Texas, around 1871. Simkins attended the Art Students League in New York City, where she studied with the American Impressionist painters Kenyon Cox, Emil Carlsen, and William Merritt Chase. In 1901, she became an art teacher at North Texas Normal School in Denton, Texas.

She returned to New York in 1906 to continue her studies with Chase. Shortly thereafter, Simkins traveled abroad, studying with Cecilia Beaux, and John Singer Sargent, and befriended Mary Cassatt. From 1915 to 1924, Simkins split time between Dallas and Woodstock, New York. By 1925, she worked in New York full-time. In 1934, Simkins returned to Dallas, where she accepted portrait commissions, taught, and continued to exhibit her work.

She exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C., the National Academy of Design, the Charleston (South Carolina) Museum, several New York galleries, and the Paris Salon in 1927. She was a member of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, and the Pen and Brush Club.

Good estate condition.