Maria Longworth Nichols Storer
| Maria Longworth Nichols Storer | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Maria Longworth March 20, 1849  Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
|
| Died | April 30, 1932 (aged 83) |
| Nationality | American |
| Notable work | Rookwood Pottery |
| Movement | Ceramics |
Maria Longworth Nichols Storer (March 20, 1849 – April 30, 1932) was the founder of Rookwood Pottery of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, a patron of fine art and the granddaughter of the wealthy Cincinnati businessman Nicholas Longworth (patriarch of the famous Longworth family).
Born Maria Longworth on March 20, 1849 to Joseph Longworth, Maria was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to perhaps the wealthiest family in the city of that time. Due to her comfortable upbringing, she was immersed in the fine arts at a young age and picked up hobbies like playing piano and painting.
She married the American Civil War veteran Colonel George Ward Nichols in 1868, who had been hired by her family to catalog their vast collections of artwork. Nichols was eighteen years her elder. In 1871, Maria was responsible for planning and raising money for the now annually celebrated Cincinnati May Festival, making her the first female in history to found a music festival in the United States. The first festival was not held until 1873. This was also the year she began painting china under the instruction of German immigrant and ceramic chemist Karl Langenbeck. Maria enrolled as a student at the Cincinnati School of Design, that following year. She began classes in china-painting from instructor, Benn Pittman. The students' work was on display in the Women's Pavilion at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition.
She attended the 1876 Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first World's fair held in the United States. By now well along in her skill as a ceramics painter, she returned home to Cincinnati with an appreciation for Japanese art and began incorporating some of those elements into her own work. Over the next five years Maria became a critically acclaimed artist whose pottery is considered the earliest examples of art pottery in the United States.
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Wikipedia