Emily McGary Selinger

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Emily McGary Selinger
BornEmily Harris McGary
February 22, 1848
Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S.
Died1927
Occupationpainter, writer, poet, educator
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Alma materCooper Institute School of Design
Genretravel writing, poetry
Spouse
Jean Paul Selinger
​
​
(m. 1882; died 1909)​

Emily McGary Selinger (February 22, 1848 – 1927) was an American painter of still life and floral, author of travel writing and poetry, and an educator.

Early years and education[]

Emily Harris McGary[a] was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, February 22, 1848.[1][2][b]

Her parents were James and Elizabeth Otis Paine (Keller) McGary. She is a descendant on her father's side of Flora McDonald. Her father, a planter, amassed a fortune in the East India trade. He died just before the American Civil War, and his family were stripped of the large fortune left them through the mismanagement of a relative and by the war. The mother took her three young daughters to Providence, Rhode Island, to educate them. Selinger was a precocious child, showing aptitude for anything in the line of music, art and language. She finished the high-school course in Providence, studied with private tutors, and ended with a course in the Cooper Institute School of Design in New York City. With art, she studied medicine, but decided not to attempt to practice in that field.[3][1]

Career[]

At the age of nineteen, she taught in southern schools, acting as instructor in painting, drawing, elocution, botany, French and Latin for seven years in various institutions. While teaching in Louisville, Kentucky, she read a paper on "Art Education" before a gathering of five-hundred teachers, which resulted in the establishment of a normal art-school in that city, of which she was principal. Ill-health compelled her to go north, and she returned to Providence, where she opened a studio.[3]

In Providence, on October 9, 1882,[1] she married (1850–1909), the artist. From 1882 to 1885, they traveled in Europe, studying in Italy,[1] and while abroad Mrs. Selinger corresponded for the Boston Transcript. She became a student of flower-painting, and earned the title "Emily Selinger, the Rose Painter." Returning to the United States, Mr. and Mrs. Selinger settled in Boston, Massachusetts. Her work was popular, and her rose pictures were found in notable collection in the United States. She was also a successful author[3]

Exhibitions[]

Selinger exhibited at the Academy of Design (New York), Boston Art Club, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She was awarded the silver medal twice at the Mechanics' Association exhibits, and first prizes at several state fairs.[1]

Personal life[]

Selinger was Roman Catholic by religion. She was a member of the New England Woman's Press Association,[3] as well as an honorary artist member of the Professional Woman's Club.[1] She had summer studios in New Hampshire; from the mid 1880s, at Glen House, and from 1894, at Crawford House. Her papers, as well as those of her husband, are held at the Archives of American Art. Selinger died in 1927.[2]

Selected works[]

  • A trailing arbutus greeting
  • A flower for happiness
  • Oh! I found so many beautiful things
  • Four-leaved clover
  • Over the garden wall
  • Chromatics, 1915
  • A prayer for peace sent out to the world by the New England Women's Press Association, 1915

Notes[]

  1. ^ Marquis gives her middle name as Washington, not Harris.[1]
  2. ^ Willard & Livermore gives her birth year as 1854.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Marquis 1909, p. 834.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Emily and Jean Paul Selinger papers, 1882–1918". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 640.

Attribution[]

External links[]

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