Clara G. Churchill (Fl. 1906)
- Clara G. Churchill (Fl. 1906)
- Still-life
- Watercolor on paper
- 6 1/2 x 10 inches
- Signed, dated 1906, and inscribed Corcoran Art School, Washington, D.C. l.r., l.l. and verso
A skilled watercolorist, Clara G. Churchill was a student at the Corcoran Art School in Washington D.C. in 1906. Her known work all dates from this year, indicating that she may have pursued art as a hobby rather than a professional career.
We believe these works were produced by the prominent collector who, along with her husband Frank Carroll Churchill, assembled a significant collection of Native American art, much of which is now housed in the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College. Colonel Churchill worked as a special inspector for the United States government’s Indian Service division from 1899 to 1909 where he was charged with documenting life on reservations at the beginning of the twentieth century. The couple visited more than 100 Native American tribes throughout the country and their collection grew to include almost 400 objects from the Pueblo region and nearly 200 Arctic objects. They also collected beaded work produced by the Plains groups. By the time they settled into their permanent home in Lebanon, New Hampshire, they had compiled one of the largest collections of historic and modern Native American art in New England, which they bequeathed to the Hood Museum in 1946.
