Harriet French Turner ( – ) was an American

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

ist. Harriet Clark French was born on in

Giles County, Virginia Giles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia on the West Virginia state line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,787. Its county seat is Pearisburg. Giles County is included in the Blacksburg- Christiansburg, VA M ...

, the daughter of Guy Dingess French and Barbara Elizabeth Snidow. They moved to

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

in 1900, where she attended the Roanoke Academy of Music and graduated from Roanoke High School in 1907. She taught at Gilmer Elementary School for two years until she married druggist James R. Turner. They had three daughters. She began painting at age 68, later drawing comparisons to

Grandma Moses Anna Mary Robertson Moses (September 7, 1860 – December 13, 1961), or Grandma Moses, was an American folk artist. She began painting in earnest at the age of 78 and is a prominent example of a newly successful art career at an advanced age. H ...

. Inspired by the scenery of the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...

area, she painted mostly landscapes. The first painting she exhibited was purchased for the collection of

Hollins College Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States ...

, and her immediately drew widespread attention. She was the first living artist to be featured in a one-person show at the

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum (AARFAM) is the United States' first and the world's oldest continually operated museum dedicated to the preservation, collection, and exhibition of American folk art. Located just outside the histori ...

, which created a 17 minute documentary about her called ''Folk Artist of the Blue Ridge''. Her admirers included

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Lady Bird Johnson Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson (''née'' Taylor; December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She previously served as Second Lady from 1961 to 1963 when ...

, who requested Turner's painting of the

Peaks of Otter The Peaks of Otter are three mountain peaks in the Blue Ridge Mountains, overlooking the town of Bedford, Virginia, which lies nine miles (14 km) to the southeast along State Route 43. These peaks are Sharp Top, Flat Top, and Harkening Hill ...

. Turner's artistic career lasted 13 years and she created 95 paintings. Harriet French Turner died on December 7, 1967 in Roanoke.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Harriet Created via preloaddraft American women painters 1967 deaths Folk artists Artists from Roanoke, Virginia People from Giles County, Virginia Painters from Virginia 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists