Oil Paint, Canvas

Abstract impressionist still life painting by Washington artist Jeanne Stauffer Beaudry. Pink, teal, orange, green, vibrant still life depicting a wedding table with various flowers in a vase, watermelon and melon slices, and a glass water pitcher. Signed by artist at the bottom right. Framed and matted in a silver wooden frame.

Jeanne Stauffer Beaudry, currently living in Washington State, exhibited a strong desire to paint from an early age. Her landscape paintings display the influence of her mentor, Walter Emerson Baum, and are characterized as part of the Pennsylvania School of Impressionists. W. E. Baum, a leader of the Pennsylvania School of Impressionists, instilled his passion for painting landscapes in her, and she developed a substantial body of realistic still life, figure painting and portraiture. Jeanne Beaudry's artistic vision was forged at the Kline Baum School from 1931 to 1935, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The work of the artists in this school concentrated on natural observations of typical scenes-rivers, barns, factories, houses, and streets; people are inhabitants of the landscape, not central features. Walter Emerson Baum modeled his passion for direct, natural observation, frequently taking his students outdoors, even encouraging "plein aire" painting of snow scenes, a signature subject. Subjects for her numerous landscape paintings reflect a personal odyssey. Her husband, Colonel Stephen J. Beaudry, was a career Army officer, moving his family of four children and Jeanne's studio every three years from 1945 to 1969. In each location Jeanne sought out visual possibilities - street and coastal scenes and country roads in Panama; churches, the quay in Porto Fino, Italy; and rugged coastlines, mountains and forests in Washington. She displays a naturalistic view of the landscapes, rendering lively, chaotic scenes with her artistic sense of selection and composition. Still life and portraiture are other distinctive features of Jeanne Beaudry's art work, shaped by a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting at Syracuse University (1939). Disciplined study led to technical mastery of charcoal, oils, and watercolor in the style of the traditional Masters like Cezanne, Degas. She received the Hiram Gee Fellowship upon graduation in 1939, followed by study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She returned to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania taught art at the Moravian Preparatory School, completed commissioned portraits, and married in June, 1941. Portraits by Jeanne Beaudry were in demand by friends, family and acquaintances throughout her career. Major commissioned work consists of General Harry Clay Trexler at the Americus Hotel (1945), Allentown, Pennsylvania, and the Honorable Judge David Chavez, Jr., in the New Mexico Supreme Court Building (1974) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She experimented with a variety of media. Originally trained in oils, charcoal, and watercolors; after the 1960's she worked with acrylics, collage, and cloth banners. One of the pen-and-ink illustrations, Bohios, for the book, The Pelican Tree and Other Panama Adventures (1953), received an award from the Pen Women Society in 1954. A series of cloth banners represent her significant, personal commitment to her Christian faith, and are displayed at the Bellevue Presbyterian Church. Jeanne studied with other notable painters, Juan Manuel Cedeno in Panama and Lothar Schall in Stuttgart, Germany. She continually gave back to her community as a teacher, setting up studios and encouraging personal artistic expression in adults and children. She developed small, vibrant communities of artists in Panama, Washington, D.C., West Point, New York, Stuttgart, Germany, and Bellevue, Washington.

H 30.13 in. x W 36 in. x D 2 in.