Margaret Elizabeth Flagg Melcher (April 8, 1900 – April 21, 1991) was an American miniature portraitist who was the daughter of noted architect

Ernest Flagg Ernest Flagg (February 6, 1857 – April 10, 1947) was an American architect in the Beaux-Arts style. He was also an advocate for urban reform and architecture's social responsibility. Early life and education Flagg was born in Brooklyn, New ...

Early life and education

Melcher was born in New York City on April 8, 1900. She was a daughter of

(1857–1947) and Margaret Elizabeth (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Bonnell) Flagg (1882–1978). Her father was the architect of many famous buildings, including the

Singer Building The Singer Building (also known as the Singer Tower) was an office building and early skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City. The headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company, it was at the northwestern corner of Liberty Street and Broadw ...

, the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

at Annapolis, and the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...

in Washington. Her paternal grandparents were Amelia Louisa (née Hart) Flagg and

Jared Bradley Flagg Jared Bradley Flagg (June 16, 1820 – September 25, 1899) was an American painter. Early life Flagg was born on June 16, 1820, in New Haven, Connecticut. He was a son of Martha (née Whiting) Flagg (1792–1875) and Henry Collins Flagg, the on ...

, a prominent painter who was the son of

Henry Collins Flagg Henry Collins Flagg Jr. (January 5, 1792 – March 8, 1863) was an American lawyer, newspaper editor, and politician. He was the grandfather of Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt. Early life Flagg was born in the parish of St. Thomas, near Charleston, S ...

and the younger brother of artist

George Whiting Flagg George Whiting Flagg (June 26, 1816 – January 5, 1897) was an American painter of historical scenes and genre pictures. He was from a family of artists including his brother, Jared Bradley Flagg, and uncle Washington Allston, with whom both br ...

. Betsy graduated from

Miss Spence's School , motto_translation = Not for school, but for life we learn , founder = Clara B. Spence , tuition = $60,880 (2022-2023) , chair = , head_label = , head ...

and was a member of the

Junior League The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (Junior League or JL) is a private, nonprofit educational women's volunteer organization aimed at improving communities and the social, cultural, and political fabric of civil society. With ...

, for whom she made illustrations.

Career

Melcher is known for painted miniature portraits. She studied under

Cecilia Beaux Eliza Cecilia Beaux (May 1, 1855 – September 17, 1942) was an American society portraitist, whose subjects included First Lady Edith Roosevelt, Admiral Sir David Beatty and Georges Clemenceau. Trained in Philadelphia, she went on to study in ...

Mabel Rose Welch Mabel Rose Welch (March 26, 1871 – January 1, 1959) was an American painter of portrait miniatures. Early life Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Welch was the daughter of Dr. Follansbee Goodrich Welch, Jr. and Rosa Phillips (Merrill) Welch. She st ...

, and Alfred Hoen. She painted portraits of

Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, , ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 1903 – 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the ''Prix Fem ...

Brooke Astor Roberta Brooke Astor (née Russell; March 30, 1902 – August 13, 2007) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and writer who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, son of John Ja ...

August Belmont, Jr. August Belmont Jr. (February 18, 1853 – December 10, 1924) was an American financier. He financed the construction of the early history of the IRT subway, original New York City subway (1900–1904) and for many years headed the Interborough R ...

Samuel Eliot Morison Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and popular. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and ta ...

, and

Mary Parkman Peabody Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also call ...

. In 1942, she was awarded the Levantia White Boardman Memorial Medal of the

American Society of Miniature Painters The American Society of Miniature Painters (ASMP) was an association of miniature painters, organized in March 1899. The ten founding members of the ASMP included Virginia Richmond Reynolds, Isaac A. Josephi, William Jacob Baer, Alice Beckington ...

. In 1951 at the fiftieth annual exhibition of miniatures--antique and contemporary--of the

Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters The Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters was founded in 1901 by Emily Drayton Taylor to promote the work of miniature portrait A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, Watercolor painting, waterc ...

, she was awarded the prize for "a miniature of outstanding worth". She served as president of the

Personal life

On May 16, 1925, she was married to

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

graduate John Stevens Melcher Jr. (1895–1956) in the chantry of

Grace Church Grace Church may refer to: Canada * Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto China * Grace Church, Guanghan Poland * Grace Church, Teschen or Jesus Church, a Lutheran basilica in Teschen, Poland United Kingdom United States * Grace Cathedral (disam ...

by the Rev. Dr. Walter Bowie. Melcher, an investment banker, was the son of John Stevens Melcher, a well known attorney, and Margaret Greenleaf (née Homer) Melcher. He was also the great-grandson of Paran Stevens, one of the proprietors of the old

Fifth Avenue Hotel The Fifth Avenue Hotel was a luxury hotel located at 200 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City from 1859 to 1908. It had an entire block of frontage between 23rd Street and 24th Street, at the southwest corner of Madison Square. Sit ...

. Together, they lived at 170 East 78th Street in New York and

Northeast Harbor, Maine Northeast Harbor is a village on Mount Desert Island, located in the town of Mount Desert in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The original settlers, the Someses and Richardsons, arrived around 1761. The village has a significant summe ...

, and were the parents of two daughters: * Pamela Melcher (1927–2005), a painter who worked as an accountant for her maternal grandfather for a number of years. * Ursula Ward Melcher (b. ), who married Comte Marc de Fontaines de Logéres, of Château de Legeres in

Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019. Prince Edouard de Lobkowicz was best man at the wedding. Upon her death in 1991, she was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in

Descendants

Through her second daughter Ursula, she was a grandmother of three, Guy de Fontaines de Logéres, Aymeric de Fontaines de Logéres, and Marc de Fontaines de Logéres Jr.

Notable works

*''Old Woman in Grey'',

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

, 1931;

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

* "Ernest Flagg", watercolor on ivory,

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

. formerly (2014) in the

Ernest Flagg, (painting).
/ref>

References

External links

*

at the

.
Pamela Melcher Papers
at the Center for Migration Studies. {{DEFAULTSORT:Melcher, Betsy Flagg 1900 births 1991 deaths Portrait miniaturists People from Ellsworth, Maine Artists from New York City American portrait painters American women painters 20th-century American women artists