Scribner Ames | |
|---|---|
 Ames in 1962 | |
| Born | Polly Scribner Ames February 16, 1908 |
| Died | December 28, 1993 (aged 85) Chicago, Illinois |
| Nationality | American |
Scribner Ames (1908–1993) was an American artist known for her paintings and sculpture. Her paintings included portraits, still lifes, landscapes, and abstractions. Her portrait sitters were often children or well-known men and women in the performing arts. Born and raised in Chicago, she worked first in Manhattan and later returned to her birth city. She also made repeated trips to Europe and, once, to the West Indies. Although she admired the work of Cézanne, Braque, and Marsden Hartley, her painting was, as one critic said, "not derivative".[1] Critics noted her effective handling of color and one said she was "particularly noted for her work in creating movement through space by the use of color perspective."[2] In her carved wood sculpture, critics generally noted the influence of her teacher, José de Creeft.
An advocate for progressive education, Ames taught art for many years in a private school and in her own studio. She was an author, although her publications were few. She wrote and illustrated a book called Marsden Hartley in Maine and she wrote journal articles and letters to the editor on art education, abstraction in art, and the pernicious tendency of collectors and commercial galleries to promote bad art.