Grace Veronica Kelly (January 31, 1877 – January 10, 1950) was an American

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

. An accomplished watercolorist, she was a member of the Cleveland School of artists, and served as '' The Plain Dealer'''s principal art critic from 1926 to 1949.

Biography

Kelly was born in Cleveland. Her parents were Thomas and Mary Hart Kelly, Irish immigrants. At age 15, she entered the Cleveland School of Art, studying under painter

Henry Keller Henry George Keller (April 3, 1869 – August 3, 1949) was an American artist who led a generation of Ohio watercolor painters of the Cleveland School. Keller's students at the Cleveland School of Art and his Berlin Heights, Ohio summer school i ...

. After graduating, she served as an instructor there until 1904, when she left to begin work as a commercial artist. She helped found the Cleveland Women's Art Club in 1912, and exhibited there throughout her career. In 1926, her writing gained the attention of ''Plain Dealer'' editor Erie C. Hopwood, who invited her to become the newspaper's art critic. Her stories on the

Guelph Treasure The Guelph Treasure (German: ''Welfenschatz'') is a collection of medieval ecclesiastical art originally housed at Brunswick Cathedral in Braunschweig, Germany. The Treasure takes its name from the princely House of Welf, House of Guelph (German: ...

in 1931 helped the Cleveland Museum of Art draw record crowds to view the objects. An avid traveler, she visited Ireland and Guatemala, painting those areas in addition to her Northeast Ohio home. Kelly suffered a stroke in November 1949 and died the following January at the age of 73. ''The Plain Dealers

editorial An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, suc ...

page wrote that her colleagues would "long cherish the memory of an artist and writer who enriched their lives with Irish wit and points of view that opened up picturesque vistas that otherwise would have been missed." She never married, and was survived by her brother, John, and three sisters, Mary, Julia, and Maria.

Exhibitions

Kelly's paintings can be found in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. She was a regular participant in the museum's May Show, an annual juried exhibition of works by Northeast Ohio artists. She exhibited 151 paintings there between 1919 and 1950, winning multiple awards. Four of her works were included in the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

's 1931 ''Exhibition of Water Colors, Pastels Drawings And Miniatures By American & Foreign Artists'', which took place January 23 through February 24, 1931 and also featured works by

George Pearse Ennis George Pearse Ennis (July 21, 1884 – August 1936) was an American artist. He is known for his watercolors and for the stained glass window he designed for Washington Hall, the cadet mess hall at West Point. Life Ennis studied at Washington Un ...

, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Roderick F. Mead. The Cleveland Women's Club displayed 70 of her works in 1947. In 1998 and 1999, her work was shown along others in an exhibition organized by the

Cleveland Artists Foundation ARTneo: the museum of Northeast Ohio art, formerly the Cleveland Artists Foundation, was founded in 1984. It is a non-profit regional art history organization that explicitly exhibits and collects the works of Northeast Ohio artists. ARTneo also pu ...

and titled ''A Brush With Light: Watercolor Painters of Northeast Ohio''. The exhibition was also displayed at the Ohio Arts Council's Riffe Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. In 2003, her work was part of the

Springfield Museum of Art Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

's show ''In A Clear Light: The Triumph Of Ohio Watercolor Painters, 1870-1967''. Her paintings were also included in the

Canton Museum of Art The Canton Museum of Art, founded in 1935, is a broad-based community arts organization designed to encourage and promote the fine arts in Canton, Ohio. In its early days (1935–1945), the museum served largely as an exhibition and meeting place ...

's ''The Cleveland School: Watercolor and Clay'' exhibit in 2012 and 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Grace V. 1877 births 1950 deaths American art critics American women painters American watercolorists Painters from Ohio Artists from Cleveland Writers from Cleveland 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists Women watercolorists Cleveland School of Art alumni Cleveland School (arts community)