Ella Augusta "Eleanor" Norcross (June 24, 1854 – October 19, 1923) was an American painter who studied under William Merritt Chase and Alfred Stevens. She lived the majority of her adult life in Paris, France, as an artist and collector and spent the summers in her hometown of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Norcross painted Impressionist portraits and still lifes, and is better known for her paintings of genteel interiors.
Her father provided her a comfortable living, under the proviso that she would not sell her paintings. With a life mission to provide people from her hometown the ability to view great works of art, Norcross collected art, made copies of paintings of Old Masters, and systematically documented decorative arts from the 12th through the 19th century. Her funding and art collection were used to establish the Fitchburg Art Museum.
In 1924, her works were shown posthumously in Paris at the Louvre and Salon d'Automne, where Norcross was the first American to have had a retrospective. Her works were also shown the following year at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Early life
Ella Augusta Norcross was born on June 24, 1854, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, about west of Boston, to Amasa Norcross and Susan Augusta Norcross. Her father was an attorney, Fitchburg's first mayor, state senator, and United States representative. Her mother, Susan, had been a school teacher in the Fitchburg area and during the Civil War was a leader of the Ladies' Soldiers Aid Society, which provided clothing, blankets, and other supplies to soldiers from Fitchburg and other locations in the state of Massachusetts. In 1863, her three-year-old brother Nelson died of scarlet fever, and when she was 14, her mother died of consumption. Norcross and her father, the remaining household members, had a close relationship.
Norcross was afforded a privileged education that was not available to many young ladies of her generation. At 16 years of age, she graduated from Fitchburg High School, and, beginning in 1870, she attended Wheaton Female Seminary, now Wheaton College. When she was 16 and 17 years old she wrote essays for Rushlight, the school's literary journal. The nature of her essays provide insight into the woman she would become: one who would successfully operate in a male-oriented society, had an interest in bettering the plight of others, and appreciated historical things. She graduated in 1872. Frances Vose Emerson was a classmate at Wheaton, good friend from childhood, and ultimately a trustee for the Fitchburg Art Museum.
Education and early career
Norcross studied at Boston's Massachusetts Normal Art School, now the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, to prepare to teach art. Living in Fitchburg, she commuted by train to the school in Boston. Norcross earned her teaching certificate by 1876 and taught drawing in the Fitchburg schools for a year. Norcross moved with her father to Washington when he was elected to the House of Representatives. A "witty and lively conversationalist", she acted as his hostess in the capital and beginning in 1878, Norcross studied art in New York City under William Merritt Chase at the Art Students League of New York for up to five years. In June 1883, she sailed for Paris to study with Alfred Stevens at Chase's suggestion. She and a few other women studied with the Belgian artist during the winters of 1883 and 1884.
Career
Father's influence
Her father provided financial support that allowed Norcross to live comfortably. She exhibited her works in salons, according to the agreement with her father that she would not sell any of them; he believed that women should give their works away and not enter into the male-oriented business world. Any paintings that she wanted to give away, Mr. Norcross offered to have "handsomely framed".
She lived in Paris for 40 years, and traveled throughout Europe. Her father lived with her during the winters after his retirement and until 1898, when he died. Joined by his daughter, Amasa Norcross spent his summers in Fitchburg.
Style and paintings
Norcross painted portraits and still lifes, and she made copies of Old Masters. Her portraits and later interiors were executed with "delicate brush strokes". She had an adept sense of color and the ability to portray reflections and textures, like metal's gleam, satin's sheen, and velvet's texture. The compositions of her interiors are positioned in a way that leads the viewer to consider what might be through a door or around a corner, as in Carpeaux Sevres.