Eleanor Norcross - Knowledge (XXG)

306: 284: 269: 295: 529: 324:, to prepare to teach art. Living in Fitchburg, she commuted by train to the school in Boston. Norcross earned her teaching certificate by 1876 and taught drawing in the Fitchburg schools for a year. Norcross moved with her father to Washington when he was elected to the House of Representatives. A "witty and lively conversationalist", she acted as his hostess in the capital and beginning in 1878, Norcross studied art in 260:, the school's literary journal. The nature of her essays provide insight into the woman she would become: one who would successfully operate in a male-oriented society, had an interest in bettering the plight of others, and appreciated historical things. She graduated in 1872. Frances Vose Emerson was a classmate at Wheaton, good friend from childhood, and ultimately a trustee for the Fitchburg Art Museum. 373:. Her portraits and later interiors were executed with "delicate brush strokes". She had an adept sense of color and the ability to portray reflections and textures, like metal's gleam, satin's sheen, and velvet's texture. The compositions of her interiors are positioned in a way that leads the viewer to consider what might be through a door or around a corner, as in 1488: 244: 406:...the painting itself is reminiscent of Chase in the informality and candidness that pervade the composition. The vacant chair, the mirror reflecting spaces not directly perceivable, and the abundance of rectangular units that impose a geographic organization on the wall—all these features occur also in Chase's paintings, as well as in those of 520:, and the Fitchburg Public Library was a beneficiary of photographs, prints, engravings, textiles, dishes, and furniture. She was involved in the placement of art at the library so that visitors to every department would have the opportunity to view the works of art, including European prints and rare engravings that span several centuries. 33: 561:

building. In 1929, the Fitchburg Art Center opened, it was later renamed Fitchburg Art Museum. Most of the collection and the building were destroyed in a fire in 1934. The museum now has 20,000 square feet of exhibition space over four buildings and works of art from the pre-Columbian era to the

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To implement her plan to establish a cultural center in Fitchburg, Norcross shipped works of art from her collection to her hometown and left $ 10,000 or $ 100,000 in her will, with the provision that the town raise an equal amount to provide a healthy endowment, otherwise the monies would go to

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She began purchasing art objects with the intention of sending them to America, so that people that were not afforded the luxury of traveling to Europe could view good works of art. Norcross collected furniture, textiles, porcelains, and other objects during visits to quiet French villages.

357:, according to the agreement with her father that she would not sell any of them; he believed that women should give their works away and not enter into the male-oriented business world. Any paintings that she wanted to give away, Mr. Norcross offered to have "handsomely framed". 402:(1891)—which depicts her father in an room with "elaborately patterned textiles", antique and oriental furnishings, and flowers—is "the most impressive" of her works at the Fitchburg Art Museum. It was also her image of an "ideal home". Of it, Ann H. Murray writes: 562:

20th century. The works of art—which include paintings, prints, illustrated books, drawings and photographs—originated in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa. The Fitchburg Art Museum has a collection of Norcross's work, along with works of

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Norcross was afforded a privileged education that was not available to many young ladies of her generation. At 16 years of age, she graduated from Fitchburg High School, and, beginning in 1870, she attended Wheaton Female Seminary, now

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She lived in Paris for 40 years, and traveled throughout Europe. Her father lived with her during the winters after his retirement and until 1898, when he died. Joined by his daughter, Amasa Norcross spent his summers in Fitchburg.

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Shows of her paintings were held after her death. The memorial exhibition at the Louvre, opened by American ambassador Myron T. Herrick, included 53 of her paintings in 1924. The Louvre retained two paintings Norcross made of the

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Eleanor Norcross, Amy Cross, Edith Loring Getchell: Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, September 21 – November 2, 1980, Watson Gallery, Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts, November 11 – December 11,

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Her gift was for mellow, loving, quiet observation of cozy spaces that close out the rest of the world. She wasn't merely recording decor, though. Her surfaces are loose and brushy, clearly influenced by

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Works from her collection were given to Wheaton College in 1922 during her 50th-year reunion, including an oil sketch by Alix d'Anethan and a seascape by Alfred Stevens. She loaned her paintings to the

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Friends Frances Vose Emerson and Providence art teacher Sophia Lord Pitman were identified in the will as trustees for the museum. An old brick stable was purchased in 1924 and was remodeled by

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that she would not sell her paintings. With a life mission to provide people from her hometown the ability to view great works of art, Norcross collected art, made copies of paintings of

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Norcross began to collect historical European artwork, particularly to be shown in public places in or near her hometown. After 1905, she made copies of paintings by great artists, like

2029: 229:, which provided clothing, blankets, and other supplies to soldiers from Fitchburg and other locations in the state of Massachusetts. In 1863, her three-year-old brother Nelson died of 1519: 631:

Frances Vose Emerson (1855–1950) was a teacher and later trustee of Wheaton College for a total of about 24 years. She also owned and ran the Home and Day School for Girls in Boston.

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was an artist, collector, and philanthropist who sought to inspire, educate, and improve society through cultural enrichment in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

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in Chicago, Illinois. Norcross shared a studio with Alix d'Anethan, whose paintings, influenced by Puvis, were of pastoral and contemporary life.

321: 182:, and systematically documented decorative arts from the 12th through the 19th century. Her funding and art collection were used to establish the 1505: 962: 592: 492: 431: 218: 619:

She was raised in two houses on Fitchburg's Main Street. One no longer stands and the other is on upper Main Street, across from Upper Common.

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Ella Augusta Norcross was born on June 24, 1854, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, about 50 miles (80 km) west of Boston, to

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Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by Eleanor Norcross, 1854–1923: Exhibition Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 5 to 31, 1925

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the same year; Norcross was the first American to have had a retrospective of her work there. A show was also held at the

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at Chase's suggestion. She and a few other women studied with the Belgian artist during the winters of 1883 and 1884.

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The museum is also reported to have been founded in 1925 in 1927. The museum states that it was opened in 1929.

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Her father provided financial support that allowed Norcross to live comfortably. She exhibited her works in

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