Burpee Farr, Ellen F.

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Burpee Farr, Ellen F.

Born in New Hampton, New Hampshire, Ellen Farr became a resident of Pasadena, California in 1895 and was one of the early women artists in the West.

She painted many canvases of missions, pepper trees and still lifes, and her paintings found ready markets in the United States and abroad.

She was a graduate of the New Hampton Institute and Thetford Academy, and in 1861, married Evarts Farr, who became a U.S. Congressman. After his death, she had a studio in Boston from 1883 to 1887, and painted florals and other still lifes. Examples of her work from this period are in the Littleton Public Library in New Hampshire. In 1887, she went to California and began the most productive period of her career. In Pasadena, she bought an old vineyard and built a mission style studio on the property .

In California, she painted many canvases that included missions, pepper trees, and still lifes of Native American baskets, fish, game, and florals, and her work found a wide market. She became one of Pasadena's most prominent artists. She died in Naples, Italy where she had gone for her health and where she only lived for five weeks.

Source: "An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West" by Phil Kovinick and Marian Yoshiki-Kovinick

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