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Laura Coombs Hills
American (1859-1952)
Laura
Hills began exhibiting floral pastels as early as 1889 at the Gallery of J.
Eastman Chase, Boston. Early in her career, she was particularly well known for
her miniatures, but as the market for these gradually slackened, she
concentrated increasingly on her "portraits of flowers". Her success
with these works was readily recognized in her own day as is demonstrated by
her astonishing sales records. She was consistently and speedily supported by
Boston art galleries and patrons. Even throughout the Depression years, the
floral pastels sold for between $100 and $500.
Laura Hills was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1859. Although she was
known for her miniature painting, she was also interested in pastels at a very
early stage of her career. In her advanced years, she took this early interest
and worked with pastels and flowers to paint her oft-spoken desire to create
"portraits of flowers". Miss Hills began her artistic studies with
Helen Mary Knowlton, William Morris Hunt’s most important student. She then
studied at the Cowles Art School and the Art Students League with William
Merrit Chase. She was awarded medals of honor at the Paris Exposition (1900),
the St. Louis Exposition (1904), the Panama-Pacific Exposition (1915), and the
Pennsylvania Society of Painters (1916). In 1899, she helped to found the
American Society of Miniature Painters and became its first vice president. She
was also a member of the Woman's Art Club and an Associate Member of the
National Academy of Design.
Miss Hills exhibited regularly at Doll and Richards Gallery, the Copley Gallery and
the Guild of Boston Artists. These shows were well known for their speedy
"sell-outs". Her works were also shown at the National Academy of
Design, the Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters, and the Boston Society
of Arts and Crafts. The artist continued to exhibit new works through 1947 at
the age of eighty-eight.
The works of Laura Hills are found in many public and private collections
including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The artist was well represented in
"The Bostonians: Painters of an Elegant Age, 1870-1930," which
traveled from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to the Denver Art Museum and the
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago.