Grace Libby Vollmer (

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 ...

Grace Libby; 1884 – 1977) was an American painter, she was active in California and Idaho. She was a California Impressionist and painted still lifes, figures, portraits, and landscapes.

Biography

Grace Libby was born on September 12, 1884 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and she grew up in

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of the 2020 census, Chelsea had a population of 40,787. With a total area of just 2.46 s ...

. She was the daughter of Anne Lorraine (née Young) and Edgar Howard Libby, both parents had roots in New England going back to the 17th century. She attended Howard Seminary and later attended the Quincy Mansion School for Girls in

Wollaston Park Wollaston, Massachusetts, is a neighborhood in the city of Quincy, Massachusetts. Divided by Hancock Street or Route 3A, the Wollaston Beach side is known as Wollaston Park, while the Wollaston Hill side is known as Wollaston Heights. It is bo ...

, Massachusetts. Her family moved to Clarkston, Washington (near Lewiston, Idaho), where she later joined them. In 1906, she married Ralston Vollmer from Idaho. Both the Libby family and Vollmer family were active in the early development of the city of Lewiston, Idaho. In the 1920s, the Vollmer's moved to southern California where Grace studied at Otis College of Art and Design (formally Otis Art Institute) under

E. Roscoe Shrader E. Roscoe Shrader (14 December 1878 – 18 January 1960) was an American painter and art instructor known for his colorful, post-impressionistic landscapes, figures, and still lifes. He was head of faculty at the Otis Art Institute from 1919 to 19 ...

and

Edouard Vysekal Edouard Vysekal (1890 – December 2, 1939) was a Bohemia-born American painter and art educator. He was active in Chicago and Southern California. Biography Vysekal was born on March 17, 1890, in Kutná Hora, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire ...

. She travelled to Munich where she was a pupil of

Hans Hofmann Hans Hofmann (March 21, 1880 – February 17, 1966) was a German-born American painter, renowned as both an artist and teacher. His career spanned two generations and two continents, and is considered to have both preceded and influenced Abstrac ...

, and continued studies with him in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

in 1930. Vollmer moved to Laguna Beach where she became active in the art colony and studied with Edgar Payne and Anna Althea Hills. Additionally she took classes at

Stickney Memorial Art School Stickney Memorial Art School, also known as Stickney Art Institute and Stickney Memorial School of Fine Arts, was an art school in operation between c.1912 until 1934 in Pasadena, California. The school was an early precursor to the Norton Simon ...

. In 1939, the Vollmers moved to Santa Barbara, where she remained until her death on November 24, 1977. Her husband Ralston Vollmer died in 1946, and her two children died young in the 1940s. She was a member of the

Laguna Beach Art Association The Laguna Art Museum (LAM) is a museum located in Laguna Beach, California, on Pacific Coast Highway. LAM exclusively features California art and is the oldest cultural institution in the area. It has been known as the Laguna Beach Art Associati ...

and the California Art Club.

References

{{Authority control 1884 births 1977 deaths People from Hopkinton, Massachusetts American women painters Otis College of Art and Design alumni People from Chelsea, Massachusetts