Geral Knowles Marley

Note: An early Southern impressionist, Geral Knowles Marley resided in Jackson, Mississippi and exhibited with many of the important women Southern artists of the time. Her work was included in a widely reported 1930 exhibition of the Mississippi Art Association (MAA), along with Caroline Compton, Lucille Sharp, and Mary Clare Sherwood, among others. The MAA exhibition was a prestigious event with winners of the juried competition receiving medals designed by Newcomb College art professor Ellsworth Woodward. Like her contemporaries, Marley drew inspiration from the surrounding landscape for her paintings.

Marie Atkinson Hull

“Progress and change are the essence of living – for artist and non-artist. Without it stagnation and deterioration soon become evident. People who expand their knowledge and investigate, remain more youthful, have joyous experiences, and become more mentally alert.” – Marie

Hull

Note: Marie Hull was one of Mississippi’s most beloved and prolific artists. Her career spanned seven decades and resulted in a remarkable body of work which displays her unwavering commitment to growth and experimentation. Hull was born in Summit, Mississippi in 1890 and had her first art lesson in 1910 with Aileen Phillips, who was the only trained art teacher in Jackson at the time. Hull quickly acknowledged her passion and talent for painting and soon enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia for one year, followed by a stint at the Art Students League of New York. Returning to Jackson, she gave art lessons in her home and worked as a commercial artist and illustrator. In 1917, Hull married Emmett Johnston Hull who encouraged her painting, and the couple traveled extensively. Around 1920, Hull’s stylistic personality as an artist began to emerge following extensive studies under some of America’s best artists.