PAIR OF BOTANNICAL WATERCOLORS, flower studies by Austa Densmore (Sturdevant), 1889

Austa Densmore Sturdevant
(American, 1855-1936)

The Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC) owns her botanical watercolor "Bergamot (or Bee Baum)", of similar style and format to this pair. Her papers are in the Archives of American Art.

Born 1855 in Blooming Valley, Pennsylvania, she married James Warner Sturdevant with whom she had two children. After earning both a Bachelor's and Master of Arts degree at Allegheny College she studied at the Art Students League of New York and Metropolitan Museum of Art.

She exhibited at the Paris Salon around 1895, and after returning to the United States, established the Cragsmoor Inn, which became part of a flourishing art colony.

Other References include : Honorable mention in 1895 Paris Exhibition; listing in 1936 Whos Who in American Art, (v2, p 556, Dec 1936); Mallet, Benezit)
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QUEEN ANN'S LACE (wild carrot)
unsigned, &

CUTLEAF CONEFLOWER (rudbeckia lacinata)
Signed & dated lower center : A D Sturdevant, Aug 8, 1889

Pair of Framed Watercolors
Each glazed, double-matted & framed in gilt wood molding approx 1/2"x 5/8, with Paris framer's labels verso :

"Encadrement Samson / DORURE SUR BOIS / 27 Rue St. Dominique Paris 7e"

Image size (visible within mat) each image : 12 x 9"

Outside Measurements of each frame : 16-1/2 x 13-1/2"
Condition : overall good, art has not been inspected out of frame. Signature is faint but legible; bottom right corner of each work has a brown stain within mat (5/8"x1" size, and under 1/4" respectively)

# 00415 ................................................ pair, $ 950.