Annie Gooding Sykes

"Seaside Village"

One of several prominent women associated with the artistic life of Cincinnati at the turn of the century, Annie G. Sykes was recognized for her colorful, Impressionist-inspired watercolors. Throughout her long and successful career, she explored a variety of themes ranging from landscapes, flowers and the figure to the picturesque scenery of New England, Europe and Bermuda. Sykes was born Annie Sullings Gooding in Brookline, Massachusetts. Her father, Josiah Gooding, was a silversmith and engraver, and her mother, Ann, was a gifted needle-worker. Stimulated by the example of her parents, Sykes developed an interest in art during her childhood, honing her skills as a draftsman in art classes at school by drawing flowers, trees and other natural forms. She initiated her formal studies at the Lowell Institute in Boston in 1875, attending drawing classes there until 1878, when she enrolled at the school of the Museum of Fine Arts. Sykes is believed to have studied at the museum school until her marriage to Gerritt Sykes in 1882. Following her nuptials, Sykes and her husband moved to Cincinnati, at that time a flourishing cultural center dubbed the "Queen City of the West." While Gerritt and a friend established the Franklin School for boys, Sykes continued to follow her artistic inclinations. Desirous of refining her skills, she enrolled at the Cincinnati Art Academy in 1884. Throughout the next ten years, she continued her training under such noted American painters as Frank Duveneck and Thomas Satterwhite Noble. Although she occasionally worked in oil, watercolor became Sykes' favorite medium of expression. Despite the birth of two children--Milly in 1885 and Anne in 1888--Sykes successfully balanced the demands of home and family with her professional aspirations. She began contributing to the annual exhibitions of the Boston Art Club in 1890 and the New York Watercolor Club the following year. In 1892, she became a charter member of the Woman's Art Club of Cincinnati, where she would exhibit regularly until 1923. In 1895, Sykes had her first solo show at the Traxel & Maas Gallery in Cincinnati, exhibiting a group of her watercolors. Local critics praised her fresh, vibrant colors and her spontaneous technique, and in a review in the Cincinnati Enquirer she was identified as representing "the new school of impressionism." Sykes's longstanding relationship with the Cincinnati Art Museum began that same year, when she first participated in that institution's annual shows. Indeed, between 1895 and 1926, she would exhibit there on forty-two occasions. Sykes also had a show (with Emma Mendenhall) at the Cinncinati Art Museum in 1908, and a three-person exhibition (with Emma Mendenhall and Dixie Selden) two years later. Sykes's work was also featured in the annual watercolor shows at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Water Color Club and the Ohio Water Color Society. Her numerous professional affiliations included the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors in New York and the Cincinnati Museum Association. Her standing among her peers was such that she was often invited to serve juries of selection, along with such eminent painters as Duveneck, Noble, Maurice Prendergast and Edward Redfield. Prior to 1900, Sykes' was active in and around Boston, Cincinnati, and in Nonquitt, Massachusetts, where her family had a summer home. After the turn of the century, she spent many summers in Cape Porpoise...

A Collection of Botanical Watercolours: Drawings of British Plants Emily Stackhouse (1811-1870) perfectly illustrates the Victorian fascination with the countryside in this remark...

Abstract harbor scene with boats, in bold, vivid colors on heavy mould made paper. Hand signed and dated, 1980 22 X 30 not frame Robert Freiman, deaf from birth, was born in March 1917 in New York City. He attended an oral program near his home and later transferred to the Lexington School for the Deaf when he was six. Early in his childhood, his love for drawing, painting and studying became apparent, and as an adult, he continued his studies in New York at the National Academy of Design, Pratt Institute, the Art Students League and the Parsons School of Design. In Paris, France he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Bob Freiman was especially focused on painting portraits and figures in motion in various mediums, especially the mixed-media combination of watercolor, acrylic and pen. Among his subjects were acrobats, ballet dancers, cyclists and other athletes. He as well focused on abstracts for a time, discovering new media in his works with quick brushwork and expressive movements. In the latter part of his career, his style became abstract and surreal with images of metaphysical landscapes with architectural elements such as arches, towers, pyramids and castles floating in the air. The famed art critic Pierre Rouve wrote: “It is therefore refreshing to see them revitalized by the colourist wealth and virile handwriting of Robert Freiman, probably the best American water-colorist since John Marin. He worked in Provincetown and Nantucket and regularly exhibited there. He showed at Doll & Richards gallery of Boston alongside John Chetcuti, Lloyd Goodrich, Tod Lindenmuth, William Meyerowitz, Dwight Shepler, Elizabeth O'Neill Verner, Stanley Woodward, Andrew Wyeth, and others. His work bears the influence of the mid century school of Paris in particular Jean Carzou. He was a regular exhibitor at the Sidewalk Art...

signed and bears the artist's studio label verso. Genre: Impressionist Subject: Landscape Medium: watercolor Surface: paper Country: United States Dimensions: 11.5 X15.5 Jennings (...