Ella Augusta "Eleanor" Norcross (June 24, 1854 – October 19, 1923) was an American painter who studied under
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...
and
Alfred Stevens. She lived the majority of her adult life in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France, as an artist and collector and spent the summers in her hometown of
Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Norcross painted
Impressionist
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
portraits and still lifes, and is better known for her paintings of
genteel interiors.
Her father provided her a comfortable living, under the
proviso
Proviso means ''a conditional provision to an agreement''. It may refer to
*Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States
**Proviso Township High Schools District 209 that comprises
***Proviso East High School
***Proviso West High School
* ...
that she would not sell her paintings. With a life mission to provide people from her hometown the ability to view great works of art, Norcross collected art, made copies of paintings of
Old Masters, and systematically documented decorative arts from the 12th through the 19th century. Her funding and art collection were used to establish the
Fitchburg Art Museum
The Fitchburg Art Museum (FAM) is a regional art museum based in Fitchburg, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States.
Description
The Fitchburg Art Museum serves the cities of Fitchburg and Leominster, as well as the surrounding communit ...
.
In 1924, her works were shown posthumously in Paris at the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
and
Salon d'Automne
The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...
, where Norcross was the first American to have had a retrospective. Her works were also shown the following year at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
.
Early life
Ella Augusta Norcross was born on June 24, 1854, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, about west of Boston, to
Amasa Norcross
Amasa Norcross (January 26, 1824 – April 2, 1898) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts.
Born in Rindge, New Hampshire, Norcross attended the common schools and Appleton Academy, New Ipswich, New Hampshire. He studied law, was admitt ...
and Susan Augusta Norcross.
Her father was an attorney, Fitchburg's first mayor,
state senator
A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
Description
A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...
, and
United States representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
.
Her mother, Susan, had been a school teacher in the Fitchburg area and during the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
was a leader of the
Ladies' Soldiers Aid Society, which provided clothing, blankets, and other supplies to soldiers from Fitchburg and other locations in the state of Massachusetts.
In 1863, her three-year-old brother Nelson died of
scarlet fever
Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...
,
and when she was 14, her mother died of
consumption. Norcross and her father, the remaining household members, had a close relationship.
File:Norcross family.jpg
Norcross was afforded a privileged education that was not available to many young ladies of her generation.
At 16 years of age, she graduated from Fitchburg High School,
and, beginning in 1870, she attended Wheaton Female Seminary,
now
Wheaton College Wheaton College may refer to:
* Wheaton College (Illinois), a private Christian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois
* Wheaton College (Massachusetts)
Wheaton College is a private liberal arts college in Norton, Massachus ...
.
When she was 16 and 17 years old she wrote essays for ''Rushlight'', the school's literary journal. The nature of her essays provide insight into the woman she would become: one who would successfully operate in a male-oriented society, had an interest in bettering the plight of others, and appreciated historical things.
She graduated in 1872.
Frances Vose Emerson was a classmate at Wheaton, good friend from childhood, and ultimately a trustee for the Fitchburg Art Museum.
Education and early career
Norcross studied at Boston's Massachusetts Normal Art School,
now the
Massachusetts College of Art and Design,
to prepare to teach art. Living in Fitchburg, she commuted by train to the school in Boston. Norcross earned her teaching certificate by 1876
and taught drawing in the Fitchburg schools for a year.
Norcross moved with her father to Washington when he was elected to the House of Representatives.
A "witty and lively conversationalist",
she acted as his hostess in the capital
and beginning in 1878,
Norcross studied art in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
under
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...
at the
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists.
Although artists may stu ...
for up to five years.
In June 1883, she sailed for Paris to study with
Alfred Stevens at Chase's suggestion. She and a few other women studied with the Belgian artist during the winters of 1883 and 1884.
Career
Father's influence
Her father provided financial support that allowed Norcross to live comfortably. She exhibited her works in
salons, according to the agreement with her father that she would not sell any of them;
he believed that women should give their works away and not enter into the male-oriented business world.
Any paintings that she wanted to give away, Mr. Norcross offered to have "handsomely framed".
She lived in Paris for 40 years, and traveled throughout Europe.
Her father lived with her during the winters after his retirement and until 1898, when he died.
Joined by his daughter, Amasa Norcross spent his summers in Fitchburg.
Style and paintings
Norcross painted portraits and still lifes,
and she made copies of
Old Masters.
Her portraits and later interiors were executed with "delicate brush strokes".
She had an adept sense of color and the ability to portray reflections and textures, like metal's gleam, satin's sheen, and velvet's texture. The compositions of her interiors are positioned in a way that leads the viewer to consider what might be through a door or around a corner, as in ''Carpeaux Sevres''.
Her painting, ''Woman in a Garden'', reflects influences of Chase,
Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
and
French Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
combined with the skill to draw with a paintbrush learned from Alfred Stevens. Reminiscent of Chase's ''
en plein air'' paintings, the dark background contrasts with the enigmatic, illuminated woman. ''My Studio'' (1891)—which depicts her father in an room with "elaborately patterned textiles", antique and oriental furnishings, and flowers—is "the most impressive" of her works at the Fitchburg Art Museum. It was also her image of an "ideal home".
Of it, Ann H. Murray writes:
She exhibited from 1887 until her death in
Champ de Mars'
Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, which was made possible through her close friendship with
Puvis de Chavannes
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (14 December 1824 – 24 October 1898) was a French painter known for his mural painting, who came to be known as "the painter for France". He became the co-founder and president of the Société Nationale des Beau ...
.
Her works were also shown in Boston and New York City.
She
exhibited her work at the
Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure located in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, originally constructed for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition to exhibit works of art. Completely rebuilt from 1964 to ...
at the 1893
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordi ...
in Chicago, Illinois.
Norcross shared a studio with Alix d'Anethan, whose paintings, influenced by Puvis, were of pastoral and contemporary life.
Norcross began to collect historical European artwork, particularly to be shown in public places in or near her hometown.
After 1905, she made copies of paintings by great artists, like
Hals,
Velázquez, and
Botticelli
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, when he was rediscovered ...
. At roughly the same time, she began making paintings of French decorative art from 12th century
Gothic art through the 19th century that she saw in galleries, including interior scenes of the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
.
Norcross's interiors provided insight into European decorative arts:
The 1914
Musée des Arts Décoratifs (in the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
) was to have exhibited her works, but the show was cancelled due to the commencement of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
She was known for being welcoming to art students from the United States and lived in the Rue de Bellchase the final 12 years of her life.
Collection
She began purchasing art objects with the intention of sending them to America, so that people that were not afforded the luxury of traveling to Europe could view good works of art.
Norcross collected furniture, textiles, porcelains, and other objects during visits to quiet French villages.
Works from her collection were given to Wheaton College in 1922 during her 50th-year reunion, including an oil sketch by Alix d'Anethan and a seascape by Alfred Stevens.
She loaned her paintings to the
Worcester Art Museum
The Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym WAM, houses over 38,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day and representing cultures from all over the world. WAM opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and ranks among th ...
,
and the Fitchburg Public Library was a beneficiary of photographs, prints, engravings, textiles, dishes, and furniture.
She was involved in the placement of art at the library so that visitors to every department would have the opportunity to view the works of art, including European prints and rare engravings that span several centuries.
Museum
![Fitchburg Art Museum, MA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Fitchburg_Art_Museum%2C_MA.jpg)
To implement her plan to establish a cultural center in Fitchburg,
Norcross shipped works of art from her collection to her hometown and left $10,000
or $100,000 in her will,
with the provision that the town raise an equal amount to provide a healthy endowment, otherwise the monies would go to Wheaton Seminary.
Friends Frances Vose Emerson and Providence art teacher Sophia Lord Pitman were identified in the will as trustees for the museum.
An old brick stable was purchased in 1924
and was remodeled by
Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc., a Boston firm of women architects,
into a
French Provincial
''French Provincial'' (french: Souvenirs d’en France) is a 1975 French drama film directed by André Téchiné, starring Jeanne Moreau, Michel Auclair and Marie-France Pisier. The film presents an overview of French life and politics though th ...
building.
In 1929, the Fitchburg Art Center opened, it was later renamed Fitchburg Art Museum.
Most of the collection and the building were destroyed in a fire in 1934. The museum now has 20,000 square feet of exhibition space over four buildings
and works of art from the pre-Columbian era to the 20th century. The works of art—which include paintings, prints, illustrated books, drawings and photographs—originated in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
The Fitchburg Art Museum has a collection of Norcross's work, along with works of
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...
,
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...
, and other American and European artists. Traute M. Marshall, author of ''Art Museums Plus'', said, "
e stands up well against the more famous competition."
Death
Norcross died of kidney failure
on October 19, 1923.
Posthumous exhibitions
Shows of her paintings were held after her death.
The memorial exhibition at the Louvre, opened by American ambassador Myron T. Herrick, included 53 of her paintings in 1924. The Louvre retained two paintings Norcross made of the
Musée des Arts Décoratifs's interior.
Sixteen of her works were exhibited at the
Salon d'Automne
The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...
the same year; Norcross was the first American to have had a retrospective of her work there.
A show was also held at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
in 1925.
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norcross, Eleanor
1854 births
1923 deaths
19th-century American painters
20th-century American painters
American women painters
People from Fitchburg, Massachusetts
American Impressionist painters
Deaths from kidney failure
20th-century American women artists
19th-century American women artists
Wheaton College (Massachusetts) alumni