Taos Indian Portrait (Sold)

ELEANORA MORGAN KISSEL, 1891-1966

Born in Morristown, New Jersey, Eleanor Kissel, especially intrigued by Taos, New Mexico, became a painter of Southwest landscapes and portraits and was also an etcher.

She grew up in New York City, attended Brearly School and by age 16 was combining morning academic classes with afternoons devoted to painting instruction. At age 19, she entered the Art Students League, and continued her studies in Europe for seven months in 1910, going to Italy, France and Spain.

By 1926, she had done considerable painting in the areas of Morristown, New Jersey, and Provincetown, Massachusetts where she summered and also took classes.

Then, in 1926, searching for new subjects, she set out for the Grand Canyon in Arizona, but only got to Taos, New Mexico, where from that time she spent her summers and built a studio in 1929. However in 1935, she did get to the Grand Canyon but devoted most of her energy to painting scenes around Taos.

She exhibited her New Mexico paintings in the east including the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors and the National Art Club in New York City.