GEORGE AMES ALDRICH

(American, 1872-1941)

WINTER

Oil on Canvas

36¼ x 35¾ Inches

Signed Lower Left, 'G. Ames Aldrich'

 

One of the best known Indiana landscape painters of the 20th century, George Ames Aldrich first studied at studied architecture at M.I.T. in Massachusetts (1889-1891), New York's Art Students League (1891-1892) and, subsequently, at the Académie Julian and Académie Colarossi. While at the Art Student's League, Aldrich studied with impressionist John Henry Twachtman, muralist Kenyon Cox, Henry Siddons Mowbray and William Merritt Chase.

 

In 1894, Aldrich made his first journey to Europe where he would stay for six years. In Paris, he attended the Academies Julian and Colarossi and, later, joining the La Société des Artistes Français. While in France, Aldrich also studied with Whistler at the Académie Carmen and with Edmond Aman-Jean at the Salon des Tuileries. During this time in Europe, Aldrich also achieved success in London as an illustrator for Punch magazine and The London Times.

 

Returning to the United States at the turn of the century, he was elected a member of the Art Students' League and pursued his professional painting career. Aldrich went abroad again several times between 1904 and 1910, with sojourns in Brittany, Holland and Normandy. Back in the States, he continued his nomadic lifestyle, residing at times in New York, Duxbury, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, but was settled in Chicago after 1915. There he exhibited with the Art Institute of Chicago and at J. W. Young Galleries, and joined the Palette and Chisel Club.

 

In 1918, Aldrich moved to South Bend, Indiana and became involved with the South Bend art movement during the 1920s. The Indiana dune country, at the southern end of Lake Michigan, was a popular subject for Chicago's painters. Aldrich exhibited widely and with success including regularly at the Art Institute of Chicago (1926, prize), and was a member of the Chicago Galleries Association, the Hoosier Salon (1923, prize; 1926, prize; 1929, prize; 1932, prize), and the Chicago Society of Painters and Sculptors. In 1924, he was awarded an Architectural Club traveling scholarship with which he traveled throughout Europe, painting in England, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France and attending the American Academy in Rome and the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts.

 

The artist's work is represented in numerous international museums including in the permanent collections of the Union League of Chicago, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Sioux City Art Society, and the War Mothers Building in Washington DC. He is well-listed in all relevant art-reference works including Who Was Who in American Art and in Benezit's Dictionary of Artists, which shows a signature sample.

 

Source:

Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, Sound View Press 1999, Vol. 1, page 77; E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 1, page 174; Vollmer Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler des 20. Jarhhunderts, Hans Vollmer, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 1992, Vol. 1, page 27; Michael David Zellman, 300 Years of American Art; William Gerdts, Art Across America; et al.