biography of Doris Emrick LEE (1905-1983)

Birth place: Aledo, IL

Addresses: Woodstock, NY, 1931-83/Key West, FL

Profession: Painter, illustrator

Studied: Rockford College (A.B., 1927); Kansas City AI with E. Lawson,1928-29; study in Europe, 1931; Calif. Sch. FA, San Fran., 1931, with Arnold Blanch; Andre Lhote, Paris, 1927-29; Kansas City Art Inst. with Ernest Lawson; A. Angarola; Rockford College (LL.D., 1948); Russell Sage College, 1954.

Exhibited: Corcoran Gal. biennials, 1935-53 (7 times); Salons of Am., 1936; Walker Gal., NYC, 1936; CI; WMAA; WFNY, 1939; Worlds Fair San Fran.; Assn. Am. Artists; PAFA Ann., 1933-35, 1938-45, 1947-51; World House, NYC; AIC, 1935 (gold); "Am. Painters Today," Worcester AM, 1938; Art Dir. Club, NYC, 1957 (gold med.); Berkshire Painting Prize, New England Show, 1964; Art & Science Exh., 1966 (1st prize); D. Wigmore FA, NYC, 1998 (solo)

Member: An Am. Group; Woodstock AA; Am. Soc. PS&G; Am. Artists Congress.

Work: Dayton AI; AIC, MMA; RISD; PMG; LOC; Albright-Knox Art Gal., Buffalo, NY; Cranbrook Mus., Bloomfield Hills, MI; Woodstock AA. Commissions: WPA mural, U.S.P.O. Bldg., Wash., DC.

Comments: Gained national attention in 1935 when her painting "Thanksgiving" (AIC) won The Logan Purchase Prize at the Art Institute. The sponsor of the prize, Mrs. Frank Logan, denounced the work as "atrocious" and soon began her Sanity in Art movement in opposition to modern art. Lee's "Thanksgiving" proved to be an extremely popular painting, borrowed numerous times for commercial use and reproduced and sold as prints and postcards. Scholars have discussed Lee's work in the context of both regionalism and American Scene painting. She worked in a deliberately "folk" style throughout most of her career, taking her subjects from American life and folklore. A number of Lee's works from Florida follow a somewhat different path, focusing not on the American theme but on composition and color--these include abstracted landscapes and figural groups. She was married to photographer Russell Lee early in her career, later to Arnold Blanch. Positions: member, fine arts advisory board, Famous Artists Schools. Teaching: guest artist, Univ. Hawaii, 1957. Her paintings were seen in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture, "The Pirate;" designed curtain for "Oklahoma" (play). Publications: illus., The Great Quillon; Hired Man's Elephant; St. John's River & Mr. Benedict's Lion; co-auth., Painting for Enjoyment; design & illus. for Rodgers & Hart Songbook, Tough Blue & Gone is My Goose; paintings for Life magazine.

Sources: WW73; WW47; monograph of paintings (Am. Artists Group, 1946); Todd Smith, "Painting for the Middlebrow: Doris Lee and the Making of a Popular Artist," in Smith, American Art from the Dicke Collection, 33-65 (and catalogue entries); Woodstock's Art Heritage, 108-109; Baigell, Dictionary ; Falk, Exh. Record Series; add'l info courtesy Woodstock AA.