Fern Isabel Kuns Coppedge (American, 1883-1951). Village Along the River's Edge. Oil on canvas. 14 x 18 inches (35.6 x 4...

Description

Fern Isabel Kuns Coppedge (American, 1883-1951)
Village Along the River's Edge
Oil on canvas
14 x 18 inches (35.6 x 45.7 cm)
Signed lower right: Fern I. Coppedge
Inscribed indistinctly on the stretcher

PROVENANCE:
The artist;
Private collection, acquired from the above, circa 1940s;
Private collection, New Jersey, by descent from the above.

Fern Coppedge, a Kansas-born farm girl-turned pioneering Pennsylvania Impressionist, rose to prominence in the 1920s and 30s as one of America's finest winter landscape painters. In Village Along the River's Edge, she transforms a snow-covered riverside scene into a vibrant tapestry of color and light. Cool blues and whites animate the river and drifts, while warm ochres and greens enliven the clustered houses that dot the countryside-hallmarks of Coppedge's bold palette and confident brushwork.

Though trained at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Art Students League in New York, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Coppedge's rise was hard-won. She defied the male-dominated art establishment, competing for-and winning-major prizes, and in 1922 joined the Philadelphia Ten, a group of professional women artists who exhibited widely and sold work to a growing network of women collectors. Village Along the River's Edge reflects both her artistic mastery and her independent spirit.

The present work will be included in the next edition of the Fern Coppedge catalogue raisonné being prepared by Les and Sue Fox.




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