MARGARET ESTHER ROGERS (American, 1872-1961) "Still Life in Abstract" Circa 1930s Original Oil on Canvas Rare Abstract Impressionist Still Life Hand Signed Lower Right Size: 31 in. x 27 in. Email any questions you may have....thank you. -------------------------------------------------- Due to special packing necessities for framed art items, shipping times may take a few days longer depending on the item and shipping destination location. Email through for more information. -------------------------------------------------- MARGARET E. ROGERS (American, 1872-1961) British born Margaret E Rogers arrived in the Western US at an early age, and quite quickly began a legendary career in art spanning decades of work. She became one of the most noted female Western artists of the 20th Century. Margaret's family settled in Monterey Central California establishing a sheep ranch. She left her fathers ranch in 1905 and moved to nearby Santa Cruz where she settled in the Seabright area. Santa Cruz was already a hub for artists even in that time. The Santa Cruz Art League was founded in October 1919. It developed out of an earlier group of artists called the "Jolly Daubers"; its leader was eminent artist Frank Heath. Heath became the League’s first president and later Margaret its vice president. Noted artist Lillian Howard participated in the founding of the Art League, which at that time selected Howard’s early mentor, Frank Heath as its founding president. By then, Howard was 63, and the Art League’s dominant energy belonged to Margaret Rogers, who was a younger 47. She had also studied under prominent artists Frank L. Heath and Lorenzo P. Latimer. Margaret over time, held sway over a small nucleus of younger artists. The small group would come to include several local painters, most notably Indonesian born Cor de Gavere who was a recent immigrant from Holland, and Leonora Penniman, a talented watercolorist who had studied with famed Danish artist Emma Siboni. Although all three participated, Rogers and De Gavere often took wagon trips to Yosemite and Big Basin, painting in true "Plein Air" style. These California artists now formed what came to be known as the "Santa Cruz Three" primarily led by Rogers. It became perhaps the most talented group of female Western artists ever formed. For many years Rogers lived in back of the old "Tyrell House" (now the site of the Natural History Museum on East Cliff Drive). It become the focal point of, and at the time, basically housed the Santa Cruz Art League. By 1921 the Inaugural Art League exhibit at the Seabright Gallery gave top billing to Rogers, whose work, according to the Santa Cruz Evening News, “show universal strength with a delicate blending of form and color,” while “Miss Howard has several charming pencil sketches in black and white.” The First Annual California Statewide Landscape exhibition was inaugurated from February 1 to 15, 1928, in the spectacular Casa Del Rey Hotel, located directly across from the Coconut Grove and Casino on the Santa Cruz waterfront. The exhibition was largely the brainchild of Rogers, and became a wildly successful and enduring exhibition for hundreds of artists over the years. Rogers served as president of the Santa Cruz Art League from 1925 to 1947. She painted landscapes, seascapes and still life pieces, primarily on oil and canvas. Member: Women Painters of the West; SWA; Bay Region AA; Salinas FA Society; Oakland Art League; SF Women Artists; Berkeley League of FA; Santa Cruz Art League. Exh: Calif. Statewide (Santa Cruz), 1927-38 (awards); Oakland Art Gallery, 1932, 1934; Calif. State Fairs, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1941 (awards); GGIE, 1940; Society for Sanity in Art, CPLH, 1941. In: Santa Cruz City Museum; Santa Cruz County Hosptial. 11 Art and Artists in Santa Cruz; Women of the West, 1928