Martha Walter (1875-1976)
- Martha Walter (1875-1976)
- Refreshment in the Garden
- Oil on canvas
- 19 1/4 x 23 1/2 inches (sight)
- Signed lower left
The American Impressionist Martha Walter was well-known for her colorful beach scenes featuring Gloucester, Coney Island, Atlantic City, and the French Coast. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Walter received her education at the local Girls’ High School. She attended the Pennsylvania Museum School and School of Industrial Art known today as the University of the Arts College of Art and Design between 1895 and 1898. Her remarkable talent was recognized through numerous awards and prizes for her work in drawing, pen and ink, and watercolors. Walter continued her studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under the tutelage of William Merritt Chase. She won the school’s Tappan prize in 1902, and a two-year Cresson traveling scholarship in 1908. The scholarship afforded Walter the opportunity to travel to Europe where she visited France, Holland, Italy, and Spain. She studied briefly at the Grande Chaumiere in Paris under Rene Menard and Lucien Simon before deciding to enroll at the Academie Julian. She later established her own studio with several other American women artists on the Rue de Bagneaux.
