Ellen Thayer Fisher 1861–1897 Blackberries

Ellen "Nelly" Thayer Fisher (April 16, 1847 – October 15, 1911) was an American

botanical illustrator Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species, frequently in watercolor paintings. They must be scientifically accurate but often also have an artistic component and may be printed with a botanical ...

. Fisher exhibited her paintings at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

and other exhibitions. She was an active contributor to the exhibitions of the

American Watercolor Society The American Watercolor Society, founded in 1866, is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolor painting in the United States. Qualifications AWS judges the work of a painter before granting admission to the soc ...

, beginning in 1872. In addition to being shown in galleries and exhibitions, her paintings of flora and fauna were widely reproduced as

chromolithographs Chromolithography is a method for making multi-colour printmaking, prints. This type of colour printing stemmed from the process of lithography, and includes all types of lithography that are printed in colour. When chromolithography is used to ...

by Boston publisher

Louis Prang Louis Prang (March 12, 1824June 15, 1909) was an American printer, lithographer, publisher, and Georgist. He is sometimes known as the "father of the American Christmas card". Youth Prang was born in Breslau in Prussian Silesia. His fath ...

Personal life

Ellen Bowditch Thayer was born on April 16, 1847 to William Henry Thayer and Ellen Handerson Thayer of Boston, Massachusetts. Her father served as a surgeon with the New Hampshire Volunteers in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Her younger brother,

Abbott Handerson Thayer Abbott Handerson Thayer (August 12, 1849May 29, 1921) was an American artist, naturalist and teacher. As a painter of portraits, figures, animals and landscapes, he enjoyed a certain prominence during his lifetime, and his paintings are represen ...

became an artist and naturalist. After living in Boston, the family moved to

Woodstock, Vermont Woodstock is the shire town (county seat) of Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,005. It includes the villages of Woodstock, South Woodstock, Taftsville, and West Woodstock. History Chart ...

and in 1855 to

Keene, New Hampshire Keene is a city in, and the County seat, seat of Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 23,409 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Keene is ho ...

. By 1867, they moved to

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Ellen was married on June 30, 1869 to Edward Thornton Fisher (December 16, 1836–) They lived in Brooklyn, New York, and Ellen may also have rented a studio in New York City. They had seven children, Faith (later Mrs.

William Wallace Fenn William Wallace Fenn (February 12, 1862 – March 6, 1932) was a Unitarian minister and a dean of Harvard Divinity School. He served the First Unitarian Church of Chicago from 1890–1901. He gave the 1921 The Ingersoll Lectures on Human Immorta ...

), Henry, Edward, Richard, Margaret, Reginald, and Eleanor. Ellen Thayer Fisher died on October 15, 1911 in

Lanesboro, Massachusetts Lanesborough is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,038 at the 2020 census. History One of the first Berkshire communities to ...

Artwork

File:Ellen Thayer Fisher 1885 Japan Lily.jpg, ''Japan Lily'' File:Ellen Thayer Fisher 1885 Poppies.jpg, ''Poppies'' File:Brooklyn Museum - Sumac and Milk-weed - Ellen Thayer Fisher.jpg , ''Sumac and Milkweed'' File:Ellen Thayer Fisher 1861–1897 Magnolia grandiflora.jpg, ''Magnolia grandiflora'' Ellen was likely self-taught, but may have learned drawing and painting techniques from her younger brother, artist

. Denied access to nude models because of her gender, she focused on flora and fauna. She is best known for her watercolors. Fisher was an active participant both before and after her marriage at the Brooklyn Art Association (1867–1884), the

exhibitions (1868–1880), the

Pennsylvania Academy The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. and the

American Water Color Society The American Watercolor Society, founded in 1866, is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolor painting in the United States. Qualifications AWS judges the work of a painter before granting admission to the soc ...

(1886). Between 1884 and 1887, Fisher worked for Louis Prang, whose company used her works and those of many other female artists to produce

chromolithograph Chromolithography is a method for making multi-colour printmaking, prints. This type of colour printing stemmed from the process of lithography, and includes all types of lithography that are printed in colour. When chromolithography is used to ...

greeting cards. She was one of the illustrators for Alice Ward Bailey's ''Flower fancies'' (1889), described as an "exquisite volume", "charming alike to the eye and to the mind". Fisher exhibited her work 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.

Legacy

Her work is included in collections including the

Heckscher Museum of Art The Heckscher Museum of Art is named after its benefactor, August Heckscher, who in 1920 donated 185 works of art to be housed in a new Beaux-Arts building located in Heckscher Park, in Huntington, New York. The museum has over 2000 works of art ...

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

, the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...

, the

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Mar ...

and the Sellars Collection of Art by American Women in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. Her work ''Poppies'' was included in the special exhibition ''Lines of Thought: American Works on Paper from a Private Collection'' (1996–1997) at the

Florence Griswold Museum The Florence Griswold Museum is an Art Museum at 96 Lyme Street in Old Lyme, Connecticut centered on the home of Florence Griswold (1850–1937), which was the center of the Old Lyme Art Colony, a main nexus of American Impressionism. The Museum is ...

Old Lyme, Connecticut Old Lyme is a coastal town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The main street of the town, Lyme Street, is a historic district with several homes once owned by sea captains. Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is located in Old Lyme and ther ...

. Her work ''Nesting Bird in Apple Blossoms'' is part of the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

cultural exchange program and was exhibited in Luxembourg in 2001. Her work ''Lady Slipper'' (1878) appeared in the 2015–2016 exhibition ''Go Girl'' at the Heckscher Museum of Art.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Ellen Thayer 1847 births 1911 deaths Artists from Boston American women illustrators American illustrators Botanical illustrators 19th-century American painters 19th-century American women artists 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists American watercolorists Women watercolorists