Morris Hall Pancoast
“Morris Hall Pancoast, painter, illustrator, and cartoonist was born on 27 April 1877 in Salem, New Jersey.” (1)
“He took night courses at Drexel University and enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Thomas Anshutz in 1897.” (2)
“He then went to Paris to further his studies at the Academie Julian with Jean Paul Laurens from 1902-1905. While in Paris he met the woman that would become his future wife, Minnie Leahy.” (3)
“Upon his return to the United States, Pancoast settled in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, near the home of his close friend and mentor, Thomas Anshutz. He joined the Art Department of the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1905 until 1907, and then worked as a cartoonist for the Philadelphia North American newspaper from 1907 to 1919. In 1912, he and Minnie were married. By the early 1920s, Pancoast’s painting career was flourishing.” (2)
“His popular impressionist landscapes of Pennsylvania and New England towns were regularly being accepted into major exhibitions around the country, and in 1924 he was awarded a gold medal by the Pennsylvania Academy.” (3)
“But his life, like so many others, was violently wrenched from its accustomed path by the disaster of the 1929 financial crash. For the next sixteen years or so, Pancoast and his wife, an aging couple, literally became traveling salesmen of antiques in Florida, Massachusetts and Maine.” (4)
“Beginning in the early 1920s, he and his wife spent their summers in Rockport, Massachusetts where she ran their "Studio Gallery by the Sea." The Great Depression caused them to move frequently until they finally settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1945.” (1)
“In...a small rented house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Pancoast's wife opened an antique shop and tearoom, while the artist ran an art gallery and had his studio.” (4)
“He exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; the Philadelphia Sketch Club; the Salmagundi Club; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Brooklyn Museum; the Corcoran Gallery Biennials; the Society of Independent Artists; the National Academy of Design; the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco; the Allied Artists of America; the Norfolk Art Museum; the Gloucester Society of Artists; and the Rockport Art Association.” (2)
“He died in 1963...His work is held by the J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky; Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin; Municipal Art League, Williamsport, Pennsylvania; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; and the Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery in Pennsylvania.” (4)
Reference
1. Williams American Art & Antiques Staff. Morris Hall Pancoast [internet]. Nashville, TN: Williams American Art & Antiques [cited 2020 Jan 6]. Available from: http://www.williamsamericanart.com/Artist_Biographies/Morris_Hall_Pancoast/
2. Jim’s of Lambertville Staff. Morris Hall Pancoast (1877-1963) [internet]. Lambertville, NJ: Jim’s of Lambertville [cited 2020 Jan 6]. Available from: https://jimsoflambertville.com/artist-biography.php?artistId=322736&artist=Morris%20Hall%20Pancoast
3. 1stdibs Staff. Morris Hall Pancoast [internet]. New York, NY: 1stdibs [cited 2020 Jan 6]. Available from: https://www.1stdibs.com/art/paintings/landscape-paintings/morris-hall-pancoast-main-street/id-a_1654053/
4. Askart Staff. Morris Pancoast [internet]. [cited 2020 Jan 6]. Available from: https://www.askart.com/artist_bio/Morris_Hall_Pancoast/23865/Morris_Hall_Pancoast.aspx