Emily Selinger (, McGary; February 22, 1848 – July 16, 1927) was an American painter of still life and floral, author of travel writing and poetry, and an educator.
Early life and education
Emily Harris McGary was born in
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States.
With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...
, February 22, 1848.
Her parents were James and Elizabeth Otis Paine (Keller) McGary. She was a descendant on her father's side of
Flora McDonald. Her father, a planter, amassed a fortune in the
East India
East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha
and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magadh ...
trade. He died just before 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 ...
, and his family were stripped of the large fortune left them through the mismanagement of a relative and by the war. The mother took her three young daughters to
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, to educate them. Selinger was a precocious child, showing aptitude for anything in the line of music, art and language. She finished the high school course in Providence, studied with private tutors, and ended with a course in the
Cooper Institute School of Design 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 ...
. With art, she studied medicine, but decided not to attempt to practice in that field.
Career
At the age of nineteen, she taught in
southern
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
schools, acting as instructor in painting, drawing,
elocution
Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...
,
botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
, French and Latin for seven years in various institutions. While teaching in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, she read a paper on "Art Education" before a gathering of five-hundred teachers, which resulted in the establishment of a normal art-school in that city, of which she was principal. Ill-health compelled her to go north, and she returned to Providence, where she opened a studio.
In Providence, on October 9, 1882, she married
Jean Paul Selinger (1850–1909), the artist. From 1882 to 1885, they traveled in Europe, studying in Italy, and while abroad Mrs. Selinger corresponded for the ''
Boston Transcript
The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941.
Beginnings
''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James Wentworth of the firm of D ...
''.
She became a student of flower-painting, and earned the title "Emily Selinger, the Rose Painter." Returning to the United States, Mr. and Mrs. Selinger settled in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
. Her work was popular, and her rose pictures were found in notable collection in the U.S. She was also a successful author.
She was a member of the
New England Woman's Press Association
The New England Woman's Press Association (NEWPA) was founded by six Boston newspaper women in 1885 and incorporated in 1890. By the turn of the century it had over 150 members. NEWPA sought not only to bring female colleagues together and further ...
, as well as an honorary artist member of the Professional Woman's Club. She had summer studios in
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
; from the mid 1880s, at
Glen House
Glen House is the name of a series of grand resorts and hotels, dating back to 1852, in Pinkham Notch very near Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA.
History
The completion of the Grand Trunk Railway in ...
, and from 1894, at
Crawford House.
Selinger exhibited at the Academy of Design (New York), Boston Art Club, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Awards and honors
Selinger was awarded the silver medal twice at the Mechanics' Association exhibits, and first prizes at several state fairs.
Personal life
Selinger was Roman Catholic by religion.
Emily McGary Selinger died in Providence, Rhode Island, July 16, 1927.
Her papers, as well as those of her husband, are held at the
Archives of American Art
The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...
.
Selected paintings
* ''A trailing arbutus greeting''
* ''A flower for happiness''
* ''Oh! I found so many beautiful things''
* ''Four-leaved clover''
* ''Over the garden wall''
Selected publications
* ''Over the garden wall''
* ''Oh! I found so many beautiful things''
* ''Chromatics'', 1915
* "A prayer for peace sent out to the world by the New England Women's Press Association", 1915
Songs
* "Two roses" (music by Hallett Gilberté; arranged by Louis Victor Saar; words by Emily Selinger)
Notes
References
Attribution
*
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selinger, Emily
1848 births
1927 deaths
19th-century American artists
20th-century American artists
20th-century American women artists
20th-century American writers
20th-century American women writers
Artists from North Carolina
Cooper Union alumni
People from Wilmington, North Carolina
Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century