Doris Lee (1905-1983)
PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU WISH TO SELL A WORK BY DORIS LEE
Doris Lee (1905-1983) was an American painter and printmaker. Her most famous paintings often depicted idyllic scenes of country life, popular with an American audience grasping for an identity bigger than themselves. Her works often blurred the lines between artistic and commercial, making her a popular artist for commercial illustration. However, she also refused to be pigeonholed throughout her career, producing several abstract paintings.
Lee was born in Aledo, Illinois. She studied art at Rockford College, graduating in 1927. She continued her studies with Ernest Lawson at the Kansas City Art Institute for a short period, moving to San Francisco, California to study at the California School of Fine Arts under Arnold Blanch shortly after. She made several trips to Paris, studying under André Lhote.
Lee first gained attention when her painting “Thanksgiving Dinner” won the prestigious Mr. and Mrs. Frank G. Logan Purchase Prize at the Art Institute of Chicago. In response to this award, the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased her painting “Catastrophe”. Shortly after, she was commissioned to paint murals for the United States Treasury Department. She also began painting murals for the Post Office, working in Washington, DC, and Summerville, Georgia. She also created several lithographs for Associated American Artists and worked as an illustrator for Life magazine. She was commissioned by Richard Rodgers to illustrate the Rodgers and Hart Songbook.
In addition to her artistic endeavors, Lee also taught at Michigan State University and the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center. After marrying Arnold Blanch, her teacher at the California School of Fine Arts, she moved to Woodstock, New York, making trips to New York City in order to display her art. She died in 1983.
Lee was born in Aledo, Illinois. She studied art at Rockford College, graduating in 1927. She continued her studies with Ernest Lawson at the Kansas City Art Institute for a short period, moving to San Francisco, California to study at the California School of Fine Arts under Arnold Blanch shortly after. She made several trips to Paris, studying under André Lhote.
Lee first gained attention when her painting “Thanksgiving Dinner” won the prestigious Mr. and Mrs. Frank G. Logan Purchase Prize at the Art Institute of Chicago. In response to this award, the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased her painting “Catastrophe”. Shortly after, she was commissioned to paint murals for the United States Treasury Department. She also began painting murals for the Post Office, working in Washington, DC, and Summerville, Georgia. She also created several lithographs for Associated American Artists and worked as an illustrator for Life magazine. She was commissioned by Richard Rodgers to illustrate the Rodgers and Hart Songbook.
In addition to her artistic endeavors, Lee also taught at Michigan State University and the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center. After marrying Arnold Blanch, her teacher at the California School of Fine Arts, she moved to Woodstock, New York, making trips to New York City in order to display her art. She died in 1983.