Jesse Drew - Bear, (British/American 1879 - 1962) Oil On Canvas, Modernist, Naive
Item History & Price
Jesse Drew-Bear, Philadelphia Painter - 1879-1962
Untitled
Oil on Canvas
Art: 16 1/4" x 20 1/4"
Framed: 21" x 25"
Signed lower right
Biography - Jesse Drew-Bear
Jessie Drew-Bear (1879-1962), born Jessie Henderson, the 13th of 14 children, came from London to the U.S. in 1906 with her young daughter and in 1910 opened the highly successful London Flower Shop at 18th and Chestnut Streets, which they owned for more than 40 years. In 1938, when she was 59 years old, he...r daughter gave her a paint set for Christmas — and from there her career took off.Largely self-taught, Drew-Bear was a “sophisticated primitive” whose work expressed a frankness of vision, wild whimsy and unrestrained approach to diverse subjects, from personal narratives to cityscapes and fairy tales. “Stories and Dreams, ” which will be on view March 23 to July 13 at Woodmere Art Museum, 9201 Germantown Ave., brings together the largest body of work by the artist ever exhibited.Drew-Bear was socially well connected, and she spent a few months every year in Europe. She painted in Greece, French Riviera, Holland, etc., and spent most of her summers in Venice with her poodle in tow, but she maintained a home and studio in New Hope. At age 75 she learned to scuba dive so she could paint marine life accurately on canvas.Her work was embraced by the art establishment, highly unusual for a self-taught artist who began painting so late in life, and was exhibited at galleries in Caracas, Paris, Venice, New York and Philadelphia as well as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), the Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art (Hartford, Conn.), Phildelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Art Alliance, the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, Miami Museum of Modern Art, etc.While she was largely self-taught, Drew-Bear briefly took lessons from prominent Philadelphia artist Arthur B. Carles at the start of her career and spent a month painting in the atelier of French artist Fernand Léger in 1949. Drew-Bear’s social personality, paired with her joyfully expressive and direct canvases, earned her the title “sophisticated primitive.” Her canvases express not only her joyful celebration of life, but also her sincere love of painting.Drew-Bear’s artistic circle included other well-known self-taught or “primitive” painters, including Grandma Moses, whose work was shown alongside Drew-Bear’s work in a 1945 exhibition at the Montclair Art Museum (Montclair, N.J.); and Horace Pippin, whose dealer, Robert Carlen, also represented Drew-Bear.Her 23-year career included more than 15 solo exhibitions, and her work is included in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and PAFA’s collections. During her lifetime, Drew-Bear’s work was acquired by prominent gallery owners and art collectors, including Albert Duveen and Sidney Janis.
Untitled
Oil on Canvas
Art: 16 1/4" x 20 1/4"
Framed: 21" x 25"
Signed lower right
Biography - Jesse Drew-Bear
Jessie Drew-Bear (1879-1962), born Jessie Henderson, the 13th of 14 children, came from London to the U.S. in 1906 with her young daughter and in 1910 opened the highly successful London Flower Shop at 18th and Chestnut Streets, which they owned for more than 40 years. In 1938, when she was 59 years old, he...r daughter gave her a paint set for Christmas — and from there her career took off.Largely self-taught, Drew-Bear was a “sophisticated primitive” whose work expressed a frankness of vision, wild whimsy and unrestrained approach to diverse subjects, from personal narratives to cityscapes and fairy tales. “Stories and Dreams, ” which will be on view March 23 to July 13 at Woodmere Art Museum, 9201 Germantown Ave., brings together the largest body of work by the artist ever exhibited.Drew-Bear was socially well connected, and she spent a few months every year in Europe. She painted in Greece, French Riviera, Holland, etc., and spent most of her summers in Venice with her poodle in tow, but she maintained a home and studio in New Hope. At age 75 she learned to scuba dive so she could paint marine life accurately on canvas.Her work was embraced by the art establishment, highly unusual for a self-taught artist who began painting so late in life, and was exhibited at galleries in Caracas, Paris, Venice, New York and Philadelphia as well as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), the Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art (Hartford, Conn.), Phildelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Art Alliance, the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, Miami Museum of Modern Art, etc.While she was largely self-taught, Drew-Bear briefly took lessons from prominent Philadelphia artist Arthur B. Carles at the start of her career and spent a month painting in the atelier of French artist Fernand Léger in 1949. Drew-Bear’s social personality, paired with her joyfully expressive and direct canvases, earned her the title “sophisticated primitive.” Her canvases express not only her joyful celebration of life, but also her sincere love of painting.Drew-Bear’s artistic circle included other well-known self-taught or “primitive” painters, including Grandma Moses, whose work was shown alongside Drew-Bear’s work in a 1945 exhibition at the Montclair Art Museum (Montclair, N.J.); and Horace Pippin, whose dealer, Robert Carlen, also represented Drew-Bear.Her 23-year career included more than 15 solo exhibitions, and her work is included in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and PAFA’s collections. During her lifetime, Drew-Bear’s work was acquired by prominent gallery owners and art collectors, including Albert Duveen and Sidney Janis.
