Elizabeth Nourse
The Nourse Collection
In 2004 Patricia and Buck Niehoff donated a collection from the estate of Paris Salon artist Elizabeth Nourse (1859-1938) to the Mercantile Library.
Elizabeth Nourse was born in Cincinnati and attended the McMicken School of Design (a precursor to the Cincinnati Art Academy) in classes of Thomas S. Noble. She spent the majority of her adult life in Paris. Her sketchbooks record travels to Russia, Italy, Spain, Austria, Tunisia, and Algeria. Major works by the artist can be found in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Cincinnati Art Museum.
The principal objects in the collection include sixteen Sketchbooks dating from 1874-1923 and containing drawings in pencil, watercolor, and pastel, including studies for major museum paintings.
Curation of the Nourse Collection was made possible by a grant from the Harriette R. Downey Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati Department of Libraries. Sandra Race Geiser is Curator & Admininstrator of the Niehoff Center for Elizabeth Nourse. (sgeiser@mercantilelibrary.com)
