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.
Dorothea Warren O'Hara
Education/Curation, Painting/Drawing
1873 – 1972
- Biography/Description of Work
O’Hara was primarily a potter, but also a painter, sculptor, and writer. Born in Missouri, she settled in the New York City area. She was educated at the Chase School (which later became the Parsons School of Design). She also studied at the Royal College of Art, London, and with Lewis F. Day; Columbia University; Debschitz School of Design, Munich; and at the NY School of Clay Working, Alfred, NY, under Charles F. Binns, studio potter. The artist become a noted craftswoman, expressing her talents in a wide range of media, including ceramics, sculpture, and painting. An active member of the American Ceramics Society, in 1912 she wrote “The Art of Enameling on Porcelain.” O’Hara exhibited at the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915, where her work received a gold medal. That same year she won the Lifetime Membership Prize from the National Arts Club. She also exhibited at Paris Salons, the prestigious Grand Central Art Galleries in New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Arts Club, Pen and Brush Club, and galleries in London, Stockholm and Tokyo. Her work is in collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cranbrook Academy, Syracuse Museum of Fine Art, and the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery. She was an early member (by 1930) of the Silvermine Guild of Artists in New Canaan.
- Sources view
- Uconn database, http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/9687290138/, http://books.google.com/books?id=KULnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA92&dq=%22rise+of+american+china+painting%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5K0sUueUN6msiQLo34DIBw&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22rise%20of%20american%20china%20painting%22&f=false, Dorothea Warren O'Hara Estate - 1943-8-8, Dorothea Warren O'Hara Lifetime Membership - New York Times - 1915-12-19, Dorothea Warren O'Harra - The Art of Enameling on Porcelain - 1912 Newspaper articles from southern Connecticut in 1926 and 1932 give some insight into her activities at the time.
- Associated Resource(s)