Florence Elizabeth Riefle Bahr (February 2, 1909 – January 12, 1998) was an American artist and activist. She made portraits of children and adults, including studies of nature as she found it. Instead of using a camera, more than 300 pen and ink sketchbooks catalog insights into her life, including her civil and human rights activism of the 1960s and 1970s. One of the many important captured events included the Washington D.C. event where

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

first gave his '' I Have a Dream'' speech. Her painting ''Homage to Martin Luther King'' hangs in the (NAACP)

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

's headquarters. She created illustrations for children's books and painted a mural in the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

(WPA) for the

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 m ...

's Harriet Lane Home for Children. Her works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions since the 1930s. In 1999, she was posthumously awarded to the State of Maryland's Women's Hall of Fame, as the first woman artist they recognized.

Personal life

Florence Riefle was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

to parents James Henry RiefleFlorence Riefle Bahr.
Record: MSA SC 3520-13553. Maryland State Archives. June 26, 2008. Retrieved January 23, 2014. and Florence Riefle. She was the only artist in a musically talented family.
Maryland Women's Hall of Fame, Maryland State Archives. Retrieved January 24, 2014. Bahr grew up later in Homeland, but first in Forest Park, Maryland and graduated from Forest Park High School.Del Quentin Wilbur
"Artist Dies in Elkridge Fire: Florence Bahr's Home Destroyed in Two Alarm Blaze."
''The Baltimore Sun''. January 13, 1998. She met Leonard Marion Bahr, a portrait painter, who was her teacher at the Maryland Institute in 1930. She sometimes modeled for his portrait studies. In 1934, the couple married and subsequently, over the course of a decade, had three children: Beth, Leonard Jr., and MaryJack Dawson
"A Family of Artists."
''The Sun Magazine,'' January 10, 1982. The newly married Bahr couple first lived in Baltimore City in a studio apartment on a third floor. In an article about her, Florence said that she was mostly interested in her husband and painting; that they both "would rather paint than eat." She also mentioned a few shared recreational interests: horseback riding, hiking and swimming. By 1940, Florence and Leonard were gaining recognition for their art, exhibitions and teaching abilities in Baltimore. During World War II, Leonard joined the Navy March 1, 1943, as a naval officer and was released on December 23, 1945.Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In 1947, the couple moved to an historic home on Old Lawyers Hill Road, an historic hilltop district in Elkridge, Howard County, Maryland and in the 1960s, Leonard had a newer house built on the same property, with each their own studios attached. Florence Bahr died in a house fire, which resulting water damage destroyed a few, but not all, of her sketches. She suffered a tragic and needless local contractor-related death.

Civil rights

Concerned about civil and human rights, Florence became involved in these

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

causes—like children's welfare - as in the Black Panther breakfast programs for inner-city children; women's rights; and anti-war and anti-nuclear issues, as well as stopping African apartheid. She championed various activists like the Berrigan brothers, Albert Schweitzer, Tom Dooley, and anyone who stood up for the poor. She campaigned for public officials' attention on the issues that concerned her via telephone calls and letter-writing campaigns; participated in political marches, civil rights demonstrations, and attended trials. She was arrested at a big May Day anti-war demonstration at

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...

. Bahr also sketched important events that she witnessed, like the trials of former Governor

Marvin Mandel Marvin Mandel (April 19, 1920 – August 30, 2015) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th Governor of Maryland from January 7, 1969, to January 17, 1979, including a one-and-a-half-year period when Lt. Governor Blair ...

and the

Catonsville Nine The Catonsville Nine were nine Catholic activists who burned draft files to protest the Vietnam War. On May 17, 1968, they took 378 draft files from the draft board office in Catonsville, Maryland and burned them in the parking lot. List of the ...

. She also had important images of key national and state marches and demonstrations. From many of these and other events, she donated more than 300 sketchbooks to the Maryland State Archives.

Education

In 1927 she attended Dickinson College. The next year she enrolled in the

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a Private university, private art school, art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of t ...

(MICA) and took an aggressive course schedule to earn a Costume Design diploma in 1930. The following year she earned the James Young Memorial Prize Award and a diploma in Fine Arts. She enrolled in 1959 at the Catonsville Community College to study German and Biology. In 1962 received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting at MICA and in 1967 she received a Master of Fine Arts in Education and Printmaking.

Career

Art

Bahr created sketches, oil and watercolor paintings,

lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

, sculptures, book illustrations, collages and constructions with found objects.

Woodcuts Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

etchings Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

monoprints Monoprinting is a type of printmaking where the intent is to make unique prints, that may explore an image serially. Other methods of printmaking create editioned multiples, the monoprint is editioned as 1 of 1. There are many techniques of mono-p ...

and

linocut Linocut, also known as lino print, lino printing or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique, a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum s ...

s were also methods she explored. She worked with pastels and inks. She exhibited extensively. Her creations were her daily life. Her painting of a sunflower was a free and spontaneous work, something reminiscent of Expressionism. She made many portraits of children, like her grandson, and numerous ones of her children as they grew up. Her portraits illustrated the essence of a person's character without "striving for prettiness".Robert G. Breen
''A Versatile Artist.''
Published between 1962 and 1967. Image of the article accessed from the Maryland State Archives. Retrieved January 24, 2014. Working in multiple media, she often incorporated natural elements - like pebbles, a shell, a feather or other found objects. From about 1931 to 1936, Bahr wrote and created pen and ink or watercolor illustrations for her or other author's children's books. As noted before, in the WPA program she painted a mural for the Harriet Lane Home for Children at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Her works were shown in 1935 at the

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

, two years later she received her first award from the museum. In 1936, both Florence and Leonard's works were exhibited at the Maryland Institute in a joint exhibition, which some interested viewers were Hollywood actress Mae West and actor Dick Powell, who commented in the exhibit guest book, that he thought the exhibited work "very good." . Florence continued to exhibit her works there and receive additional awards. Her portrait of an African-American woman, ''Lily,'' was shown at the 1936 New York exhibition of the

National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

. After having become a member, Bahr created oil paintings with greater frequency."Painter in a Musical Family Would Rather Draw Than Eat."
''The Baltimore Sun,'' June 29, 1936. Of the many sketches that Bahr recorded from 1957 to 1992 of her experiences, she captured the

's Washington, D.C. '' I Have a Dream'' speech, the

courtroom trial, a march on

, the trial of Governor

, and

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

's funeral. She created the ''Homage to Martin Luther King'' to help manage her feelings of his death and the resulting riots. It was displayed in the

's (NAACP) Baltimore headquarters. Prior to her death, Bahr had presented it to that organization which she worked with in the 1960s and 1970s. Bahr's art is in private and public collections in Europe, Japan and throughout the United States, including Baltimore Museum of Art, who has a color woodcut ''Indian Girl'' made in 1969.Donors: Gifts of Art.
Baltimore Museum of Art. Retrieved January 24, 2014. The Peabody Galleria Piccola held a retrospective exhibit of her works when she was 87 years old.

Antique doll collection

Bahr collected antique dolls and made more than 200 watercolor portraits of the dolls. She opened a museum in

Ellicott City Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 65,834 at the 2010 census, making it the mo ...

called the "Humpty Dumpty Museum of Dolls and Toys," as well as engaging as an antique dealer in the same city.

Exhibitions

She participated in many solo and group exhibitions: ;Solo exhibitions * 1955 - Vagabond Theatre, Baltimore * 1958 - Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania * 1964 - Parish Hall Art Gallery, Baltimore * 1968 - Memorial Gallery, Baltimore * 1974 - Fells Point Galler, Baltimore * 1977 - Unicorn Gallery, Luthersvill, Maryland * 1981 - Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania * 1989 - Rockland Art Center, Ellicott City, Maryland * 1992 - Gal. Piccola, Peabody Conservatory Library ;Group exhibitions * Artists for Peace, Howard County, Maryland *

* Department of Education, Howard County, Maryland ;Group exhibitions * Jewish Community Center, Baltimore * Jonade Gallery, Baltimore * Loyola College, Baltimore * Maryland Artists Today, 1968 state tour * Maryland State Arts Council * Maryland Institute Alumni Association, Mount Royal School * McDonogh School, Tuttle Gallery *

Peale Museum The Peale, located in Baltimore, Maryland, is Baltimore's Community Museum. Its mission is to evolve the role of museums in society by providing local creators and storytellers with the space and support the need to realize a complete and accessi ...

, Baltimore * Pen Women, Washington and Baltimore * Phoenix Gallery, Baltimore * Vertical Gallery, Baltimore

Awards

* 1936 - Baltimore Museum of Art Print Club Purchase Prize * 1952 - Baltimore Museum of Art All Maryland Show * 1968 - Maryland Institute Alumni F. Weber Award * 1968 - Maryland Arts Council Selection, Second Annual Maryland Artists Today traveling showFlorence Riefle Bahr.
Maryland State Archives. Retrieved January 24, 2014. * 1969 - Loyola College Baltimore Outdoor Show Purchase Prize * 1971 - Second place prize in watercolors in the Constellation Art Contest * 1999 - Posthumously inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame

Recognition

In her book ''Women of Achievement in Maryland History,'' author Carolyn Stegman wrote: