Mary Motz Wills (1875-1961)
Mary Motz Wills (1875-1961)
Grandi Flora, Magnolia Flower
- Watercolor on paper
- 21 1/2 x 15 inches
- Signed lower right
Mary Motz Wills, a prolific watercolorist recognized for her paintings of wildflowers, was born in Wytheville, Virginia on June 6, 1875 to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Motz. Shortly after her birth, the family moved to Waco, Texas, where the artist and her younger sister, Elsie, spent their formative years. Their parents must have nurtured an artistic sensibility in their daughters, as while Wills would grow to be an established painter of floral still lifes, Elsie Motz Lowdon (1883-1960) would earn national acclaim for her painted miniatures.
Wills attended the Art Students League in New York, where she studied with the renowned American Impressionists William Merritt Chase (1849-1916), John Henry Twachtman (1853-1902) and Frank Vincent DuMond (1865-1951). She is also thought to have studied at the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Arts, as well as art schools in Boston and Philadelphia.
