Morning Star

Morning Star

This work is a square oil painting on cardboard that is an abstract/geometric composition. It is composed of a mostly warm, muted orange underpainting with a few areas of cool tones on the right. Pointillism is used throughout the whole piece to create shapes over the underpainting. At the top of the work, just to the left of the center is a yellow/orange, five pointed star, with lighter yellow center. There is an oval shape around the star. It has multiple sections to it, done in shades of pink and pinkish-orange with blue-ish purple dots laid over. Under the oval, in the bottom left section of the composition, there is an obtuse triangle. The long side of the triangle is faces towards the bottom left of the composition. Abutting the long side of the triangle is half of an oval shape. The triangle is primarily shades of yellow, with the exception of a smaller pink triangle within it and to the right. There is a thin pink line around the border of the larger triangle. The oval is yellow-orange with a crescent of yellow on its outer edge. To the right of the triangle, in the middle/bottom right of the composition, is an oblong, curvilinear shape made up of wedge-like shapes that converge at one spot in the middle of the overall shape. The right half of the shape is painted blue and the wedge are formed by small dots and are blue, pink, red, and purple in color. There is is a thin line of purple that goes around the aforementioned large triangle and is also used sparingly in the right side of the composition. Along the entire bottom of the composition we also see the use of black dots over the orange.

Maybelle Stamper (née Richardson) was born in Dublin, New Hampshire in 1907. In the 1920's she studied under George DeForest Brush. She studied at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and New Hampshire State Normal School from 1928 to 1929 before going to New York, where she studied from 1930-1937 at the Art Students League. Stamper also studied figure painting with William Merritt Chase. In 1937, she married William Stamper, a relationship that proved unhappy for her and influential on her work. From the time they divorced, she used her married name professionally and also changed the spelling of her first name to Maybelle. She went on to teach at the Cincinnati Art Academy from 1938-1943. From 1943 to 1946 she visited Captiva Island in Florida where she fell in love with the island and eventually moved there and stayed until her death in 1995. Stamper painted landscapes, modern art, and portraits and is best known for her lithographs. She also worked with masonite, paper, paper bags, and canvas. Her work has been in major exhibitions from the 1930's through the 1990's across the nation including shows in New York, Cincinnati, and Florida.

https://cdm16120.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/fineart/id/709/rec/1

St. Catherines University Library and Archives

1949

St. Catherine University

This image may not be reproduced for any reason without the express written consent of the St. Catherine University. Contact the Visual Resources Library regarding rights to this collection. 651-690-6639

8 x 7 5/8 in

English

Oil Painting

2013.0.950