Jean Goodwin Ames- Angel and Deer, 1937 VERY RARE

Jean Goodwin Ames (California 1903-1986)

Angel and Deer, 1937

Charcoal/Pencil on Paper 

Signed lower right in pencil and titled left

18 by 12 inches (page)

9 by 13 inches (image) 

With label on back from a submission and the date 8-4-37

"Nationally known as an enamelist and tapestry designer, Jean Goodwin Ames was raised on an orange ranch in Santa Ana and received a thorough art education at the Art Institute of Chicago.

At the start of the Depression, she and her fiancé, artist Arthur Ames, were wondering how they would survive when the Federal Art Project opened up opportunities to them. She recalled later in her life that a W.P.A. mosaic assignment was the springboard to her long and successful career. Inspired by Maxine Albro's mosaics, which they had seen in San Francisco, they each designed a mosaic panel for the patio of Newport Harbor Union High School. Jean Goodwin (Ames) chose the theme of Fisher Girls (1937) and fishing nets, because of the seacoast location of the school. The financial support from this and other assignments made it possible for Goodwin to obtain a Master's degree at the University of Southern California, and become a college professor.

She married Ames in 1940, and in subsequent years, they collaborated on murals and public decorations in Southern California. The practical experience gained on the Federal Art Project made it possible for her to tackle large-scale assignments in churches, department stores, and public buildings. Jean Ames was also a Professor Emeritus at Claremont while she continued to paint and work in the community. She became the chairperson of the Graduate School of Art of the Claremont Colleges in Claremont, California an exalted academic position that was extremely rare for a woman at that time.