With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Lauren Ford
Painting/Drawing
1891 – 1973
Instrumental in founding the Abbey of Regina Laudis, Ford was a prolific religious painter, often painting scenes related to Catholic beliefs.
- Biography/Description of Work
Lauren Ford was born in New York City in 1891 to Simeon Ford and Julia Ellsworth Shaw. Her father, Simeon, along with her uncle, Samuel Shaw, was the proprietor of Grand Union Hotel in New York City. Her mother, Julia, was a children’s book author. When Lauren Ford was still a child, she was sent to France to study painting with her uncle, Lawrence Shaw. In France she was exposed to medieval art and monks. This helped to shape Ford’s spiritual beliefs as well as influence her artwork. After she returned to New York City, she studied at the Art Students League. During the 1920s, Ford was involved with the Monastery of Solesmes, located in the western part of France near Brittany. In 1933, her father, Simeon, died and she purchased a farm in Bethlehem, naming it Sheepfold, inspired by biblical readings. As well as raising sheep on her farm, she also built a studio and a chapel, and enlarged the house where she and her adopted daughter, Dora, lived. Ford was instrumental in founding the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem. When two members of the Benedictine Abbey in Jouarre, France, met Lauren Ford at Sheepfold in 1946, she helped them locate a site for their abbey. After Lauren Ford’s death in 1973, Sheepfold was left to the Abbey. Lauren Ford also created images for Christmas cards during her lifetime. Today, the nuns at Abbey of Regina Laudis still produce and print the Christmas cards using Ford’s images. The art studio Lauren Ford had created is also still used for art purposes, and the nuns still raise sheep on the farm.
- Sources view
- Carley, Rachel. 'Creative Places: Modern Arts and Letters in Connecticut.' Connecticut: Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation and State Historic Preservation Office.
Lauren Ford Article - New York Times - 1930-4-6, Lauren Ford Article - New York Times - 1940-3-3, Lauren Ford Obituary - New York Times - 1973-8-31; https://suburbanbanshee.wordpress.com/2005/06/26/111976246136104032/; http://ryehistory.blogspot.com/2010/12/exploring-art-of-lauren-ford.html; http://abbeyofreginalaudis.org/stewardship-sheepfold.html - Associated Resource(s)