CATHERINE CARTER CRITCHER (VIRGINIA / NEW MEXICO, 1868-1964) STILL-LIFE OF NASTURTIUMS IN A GREEN VASE, oil on canvas, a fine example of vivid color, signed lower right. Housed in likely original painted frame. Circa 1925. 17 3/4" x 16 3/4" sight, 20 3/4" x 19 3/4" OA.
Catalogue Note: Born in Westmoreland County on the Northern Neck of Virginia to a prominent family, Catherine Carter Critcher (1868-1964) enrolled at the Cooper Union School in New York in 1890 and attended the Corcoran School of Art the following year. After working for several years as a portrait painter in the DC area, she moved to Paris to study at the Academie Julien, which consistently attracted a host of talented expatriate painters from the United States. Finding success in France, Critcher exhibited frequently and even established a school tailored exclusively for visiting American artists. In the 1920's she began traveling to Taos, New Mexico, where she established herself within the burgeoning artistic community and was elected to the Taos Society of Artists in 1924, which included such noteworthy figures as Joseph Henry Sharp, Ernest Blumenschein, and Oscar Berninghaus. In speaking of this area, Critcher said "Taos is unlike any place God ever made, I believe, and therein is its charm and no place could be more conducive to work." The present still-life, recently discovered in a Virginia estate, exhibits the artist's keen abilities and was likely executed under the influence of her Taos experience.

Very good overall original condition with minor abrasions and discoloration. Frame with moderate wear.