Hunt, Esther Anna (1875-1951).

Title: Chinese figures in a temple interior by Esther Anna Hunt (1875-1951) 25" x 38", Watercolor/Paper, Signed Lower Right Est.: $3,000 - $5,000 Sold by John Moran Auctioneers for $7,910 on 10/26/2004 ARTIST WORLD RECORD

Painter, sculptor. Born in Grand Island, NE on August 30,1875.

The Hunt family moved to San Diego when Esther was a child and she grew up on a ranch there.

Upon moving to San Francisco, she studied art at the Mark Hopkins Institute (1901).

As a means to finance her art studies, she began painting Chinatown subjects which she sent to New York dealer who readily sold them.

After studying portraiture with William M. Chase in NYC from 1905-06, she continued her studies for six years in Paris. While in Paris her portrait of her sister was hung in the Paris Salon.

Returning to California, she had a studio in Los Angeles for four years, from 1918-27 she lived in SF, and during 1927-33 she lived in Greenwich Village in NYC.

The years 1933-46 were again spent in SF. After a stroke ended her career in 1946, she was taken to the Santa Ana Rest Home in West Orange County, CA where she remained until her heath on March 4, 1951.

She is buried in Rose Hills Cemetery near Whittier.

Her watercolors, etchings, oils, and sculptures were very popular with the general public during her productive year, having been reproduced commercially for postcards, calendars, prints, ceramic busts, etc. Hunt was very fond of the artistically created and individually named children she would never have in real life.

Member: Laguna Beach AA.

Exhibited: SFAA, 1916.

Awards: gold medal for sculpture, Panama-Calif. Expo, San Diego, 1915.

Mrs. Alice F. Kranz, sister; AAA 1909-33; Millie Robbins column, SF Chronicle, 2-9-1970; SCA; AAW; CSL; SFCD 1901.