Sophy Regensburg Explained

Sophy Pollak Regensburg (1885 – April 6, 1974) was an American naïve painter.

Born in New York City,[1] Regensburg was a member of a prominent family; her brother, Walter Pollak, sat on the New York Stock Exchange.[2] She was married to cigar maker Melville E. Regensburg, with whom she had three children, until his death.[3] Active during her marriage as a volunteer, she took up painting in widowhood, when her physician suggested she needed to slow down;[1] she had studied under William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri at the New York School of Art.[2] In 1952, the first year in which she was involved in the hobby, she won a gold medal in the National Amateur Painters Competition; she would go on to present work in thirteen one-woman shows and fifteen group exhibits before her death. She produced mainly still lifes.[3] Her work is represented in the collections of the American Folk Art Museum,[4] the Miami University Art Museum,[1] and Smith College.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Sellen, Betty-Carol . 2016 . Self-Taught, Outsider and Folk Art: A Guide to American Artists, Locations and Resources . Third . Jefferson, North Carolina . McFarland & Company . 978-0-7864-7585-8 . 233.
  2. Web site: Sophy Regensburg - Artist, Fine Art Prices, Auction Records for Sophy Regensburg. www.askart.com. 19 October 2017.
  3. News: . April 7, 1974 . Mrs. Sophy Regensburg, 88, Primitive Painter, Is Dead . . 2024-07-16.
  4. Web site: News – American Folk Art Museum. folkartmuseum.org. 19 October 2017.
  5. Book: Marian Wardle. Sarah Burns. Brigham Young University. Museum of Art. American Women Modernists: The Legacy of Robert Henri, 1910-1945. 2005. Rutgers University Press. 978-0-8135-3684-2. 222–.