Description:

Merle Berry Tennyson Montjoy
American/Mississippi, 1920-2008
"Untitled: Birds on Rocks"
latex polymer on masonite
signed lower right, signed and inscribed "Latex" en verso, framed.

Note: Merle Berry Tennyson Montjoy was born in 1920 to a prominent Mississippi family. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi State College for Women and Master of Arts degree in art education from the University of Mississippi. She studied at the William Fisher Gallery in New York, the summer art colonies in Kennebunkport, Maine and the Penland School in North Carolina, as well as at various workshops sponsored by the Mississippi Art Colony. Montjoy's mentors included Ida Kohlmeyer, Alvin Sella, Andrew Bucci, Bill Rowell, Malcolm Norwood and particularly Marie Hull. Together, she and Hull were instrumental in recognizing the work of Walter Anderson through significant acquisitions by the Mississippi Art Association. In 1975, Montjoy was one of nine organizers of the Friends of Walter Anderson, a group dedicated to assuring the preservation and recognition of Anderson's work. This organization played an important role in establishing the Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Montjoy's own artwork was noted for its innovation and exploration in different media. She frequently exhibited in competitive shows in the South and won a large number of awards. Her many one-person shows included the Mississippi Art Association's presentation in 1971 of "Recent Paintings by Merle Tennyson," which produced considerable interest as it featured her series of "Fan" paintings, as well as five acclaimed stylized portraits. In speaking of the "Fan" series in 1974, Charles M. Grass of the Art Department of the University of Mississippi stated: "They are the best series of paintings that I have seen done by a Mississippian."

  • Dimensions: 24 x 60 in. (61 x 152.4 cm.), Frame: 26 3/4 x 62 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (67.9 x 158.8 x 3.8 cm.)
  • Medium: latex polymer on masonite
  • Condition: No signs of past restoration; 5 1/4 inch crack at center in area of thickest paint; cluster of pinpoint losses upper center edge; frame has marks, nicks and abrasions with separation at all corners.

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June 6, 2025 11:00 AM CDT
New Orleans, LA, US

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