Marguerite Zorach
| Marguerite Zorach | |
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Marguerite Zorach in her studio
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| Born | September 25, 1887 |
| Died | June 27, 1968 (aged 80) |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | painting |
| Awards | Logan Medal |
Marguerite Zorach (née Thompson; September 25, 1887 – June 27, 1968) was an American Fauvist painter, textile artist, and graphic designer, and was an early exponent of modernism in America. She won the 1920 Logan Medal of the Arts.
Marguerite was born in Santa Rosa, California. Her father, a lawyer for Napa Valley vineyards, and mother were descended from New England seafarers and Pennsylvania Quakers. Marguerite was their only child. While she was young, the family moved to Fresno and it was there that Marguerite began her education. She started to draw at a very young age and her parents provided her with an education that was heavily influenced by the liberal arts, including music lessons in elementary school, and four years of Latin at Fresno High School. She was one of a small group of women admitted to Stanford University in 1908.
While at Stanford, Marguerite continued to show aptitude for art, and rather than completing her degree, she traveled to France at the invitation of her aunt, Harriet Adelaide Harris. There she pursued painting and attended the post-impressionist school Académie de La Palette, where she studied under John Duncan Fergusson and Jacques-Emile Blanche. The academy encouraged her to pursue her own interests and paint in a style that was uniquely her own. She exhibited at the 1910 Société des Artistes Indépendants, and the 1911 Salon d'Automne, both renowned for their modernist themes.
While in Paris, she socialized with Pablo Picasso, ex-patriate Gertrude Stein, Henri Rousseau, and Henri Matisse through her “Aunt Addie’s” connections. It was also here that she first met her future husband and artistic collaborator, William Zorach. William admired her passionate individuality, and he said of her modernist Fauvist artwork “I just couldn’t understand why such a nice girl would paint such wild pictures.”
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