Cromwell, Joane (1895-1969).

A Laguna Landmark Passes by Joane Cromwell (1895-1969) 16" x 20", Oil/Canvas, Signed Lower Right Est.: $5,000 - $7,000 Sold by John Moran Auctioneers for $16,100 on 10/25/2005 ARTIST WORLD RECORD

Born in Lewiston, Illinois, Joane Cromwell is noted for her California coastal scenes, particularly with sycamore trees, and desert landscapes. Her birth name was Catherine Strode, but in 1926, she changed her name for professional reasons to Joane Cromwell. She was married five times, and had last names of Blakley, Skidmore, Christian, Cromwell, and Liddle.

She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, and in 1920 moved to southern California where she lived and worked in various places including Hollywood, Los Angeles, Laguna Beach and Dana Point. She settled in Laguna Beach, first moving there in 1922 with her mother. She had a studio atop Temple Hills with a commanding view of the Pacific Ocean and Laguna landscape.

From 1922 to 1956, Cromwell exhibited at the Laguna Beach Art Gallery and was living in Laguna Beach at the time of her death. She also made numerous trips to the Palm Desert area, working from a second studio she had there and spending weeks at a time painting the desert landscape. During World War II, when her husband and son were overseas, she worked in a defense plant during the day and painted at night.

Cromwell studied with Anna Althea Hills, George Demont Otis, and Edgar Payne and also studied at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles with John Wilkinson Smith. She painted a large mural for the nearby Santa Anita Race Track in 1939 and in 1941, for the Hollywood Park Race Track. One of her large oil paintings of San Juan Capistrano was owned by J. Edgar Hoover and was hung over his desk in his F.B.I. office in Washington D.C.

Source: Phil and Marion Yosicki Kovinick, "Women Artists of the American West"
Paul Sternberg, "Art by American Women"
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"