Title
Portrait of Maud Howe Elliott
Object Type
Creator
Date
1937
Notes
Mabel Norman Cerio was the last of nine children of George Norman of Newport Waterworks fame and Abbie Durfee Kinsley. She studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where she met fellow artist William Drury; both were to play an active part in forming the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown. After Boston, Cerio and Drury went to France, where he met his future wife Hope Curtis Davis. Cerio stayed in Europe leading an independent artist's life. When she was forty she married Dr. George Cerio, a native of Capri and the couple spent their summers on her Paradise Farm in Middletown and their winters on his villa in Capri. George Bellows was a friend, and when he summered in Newport in 1917 and 1918, the Cerios, Bellows and Drurys picnicked together in the Paradise area. A great nature and animal enthusiast, Cerio left Paradise Farm and the surrounding acreage to the Norman Bird Sanctuary. At the Art Association she established the Abby Kinsley Norman Lecture Fund in 1928, with an endowment of $10,000.
The face of a long-lived, accomplished woman is presented in this poignant portrait of the octogenarian. Maud Howe Elliott at this time in her life was spending her summers at her home Lilliput, in Newport, and her winters in Palm Beach. She was still active as secretary at the Art Association of Newport and continued to advocate for art, historic preservation and other causes, drawing upon her network of cultured and prominent friends.
Artist Mabel Norman Cerio, daughter of George Norman of Newport Waterworks fame and Abbie Durfee Kinsley, was an independent-minded young woman. She studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and lived in Europe, where she married an Italian physician, Dr. George Cerio in 1917. Maud and Mabel were friends, particularly late in their lives. Cerio was best known for her portraits.
The face of a long-lived, accomplished woman is presented in this poignant portrait of the octogenarian. Maud Howe Elliott at this time in her life was spending her summers at her home Lilliput, in Newport, and her winters in Palm Beach. She was still active as secretary at the Art Association of Newport and continued to advocate for art, historic preservation and other causes, drawing upon her network of cultured and prominent friends.
Artist Mabel Norman Cerio, daughter of George Norman of Newport Waterworks fame and Abbie Durfee Kinsley, was an independent-minded young woman. She studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and lived in Europe, where she married an Italian physician, Dr. George Cerio in 1917. Maud and Mabel were friends, particularly late in their lives. Cerio was best known for her portraits.
Cultural Origin
Capri, Italy
Medium
Oil on canvas
Extent
frame: 30 1/2 in x 25 1/2 in; canvas: 25 in x 20 in
Source
Gift of Patricia Saunders
Identifier
2002.004.001
For more information about this item, please contact its owning institution.