Lanford Monroe (1950–2000) was an internationally known American realist

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

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. She was best known for

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

s frequently featuring

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

equine Equinae is a subfamily of the family Equidae, which have lived worldwide (except Indonesia and Australia) from the Hemingfordian stage of the Early Miocene (16 million years ago) onwards. They are thought to be a monophyletic grouping.B. J. MacFa ...

subjects. She was the daughter of noted

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

illustrator C.E. Monroe, Jr. and

portraitist A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

Betty Monroe Beatriz Monroy Alarcón, professionally known as Betty Monroe (born March 4, 1978) is a Mexican actress and model. Career Early career beginnings; 1991-2000 Betty has been quite notable for playing villainous roles in several productions. She s ...

, and was also influenced by artist neighbors

John Clymer John Ford Clymer (January 29, 1907 – November 2, 1989) was an American painter and illustrator known for his nature works featuring the American West. Early life and education Born in Ellensburg, Washington, Clymer first studied art thr ...

and Bob Kuhn in her hometown of

Bridgewater, Connecticut Bridgewater is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,662 at the 2020 census, down from 1,727 at the 2010 census. Bridgewater is well known as being a weekend getaway for wealthy New Yorkers, due to its scen ...

. Lanford grew up in Huntsville, Alabama and graduated from Huntsville High School in 1968. Having completed her first commission at six years of age, Monroe spent most of her life with her work. She attended the Ringling School of Art in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

, and thereafter traveled throughout the country in pursuit of new projects. As Monroe's career developed, she moved from

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

as her primary medium to

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

. Her awards include the Society of Animal Artists Award of Excellence, the American Academy of Equine Art Popular and Landscape Awards and the Grand Teton Natural History Association Award. Monroe died in 2000 due to a heart attack at her home near

Taos, New Mexico Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Cha ...

. Following her death, Monroe's husband published a biography, '' Homefields: The Art of Lanford Monroe''. He also helped the

National Museum of Wildlife Art The National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) is a museum located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, United States that preserves and exhibits wildlife art. The 51,000 square foot building with its Idaho quartzite façade was inspired by the ruins of Slains Ca ...

establish an artist-in-residence program in her memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monroe, Lanford Equine artists 1950 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters People from Bridgewater, Connecticut People from Huntsville, Alabama Artists from Albuquerque, New Mexico 20th-century American male artists