Greta Allen, untitled (Maine Landscape near Mt. Desert Island), 1945-1955

untitled (Maine Landscape near Mt. Desert Island) Watercolor on paper, c. 1945-1955 Signed by the artist lower left (see photo) Provenance: Estate of the artist Condition: Excellent Image/Sheet size: 12 3/4 x 17 3/4 inches Regarding the Maine subject matter of her watercolors, we know that Allen taught art in West Gouldsboro, ME, located near Arcadia National Forest. This watercolor was most probably done in that vicinity. A local Maine newsletter mentions "the artist Greta Allen’s house” as artist residing in West Gouldsboro, Maine in a house formerly owned by James Hill. West Gouldsboro is located just east of the Mt. Desert Narrows, across Frenchman Bay from Mt. Desert Island and Arcadia National Park. Please read the attached jpgs which give a narrative of Allen's life and her time along the coastline of Maine. Greta Allen, who is sometimes listed under her married name Dietz, was born in Boston in 1881. At the Massachusetts Normal Art School she took elementary lessons from Joseph R. DeCamp, then Frank Benson was her teacher at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Although her work seems to be only in private collections today, Allen exhibited at the Boston Art Club, at the Copley Society and at the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts between 1897 and 1927. Her Portrait of a Boy was featured at the Pennsylvania Academy's annual exhibition of 1918. Allen, who eventually taught art, had a solo show in 1930 in Milwaukee. The style of her genteel images relates to that of her teacher Benson. Allen was also a talented watercolor painter and we know that she worked at some point in Provincetown. Two works by Allen are in the Louise and Allan Sellars Collection (See Art by American Women: Selections from the Collection of Louise and Allan Sellars. Exh. cat. Gainesville, GA: Brenau College, 1991, p. 15). Written and submitted by Michael Preston Worley, Ph.D. (Courtesy of askART)