Ethel Pennewill Brown Leach
American painter and printmaker, 1878–1960
In 1910, at Pyle's request, Brown occupied his studio (with fellow student Olive Rush) when he left for Italy. Following Pyle's 1911 death there a year later, she turned to easel painting. Brown went to Paris in 1912, and lived at the American Art Students Club. Subsequently, she lived in an artists' colony, based at the Convent of Saint Joseph de Cluny at Senlis, with other women artists. She exhibited in 1913 at the Paris Salon; she was also accepted into the International Union of Beaux-Arts and Letters.
She returned to Wilmington in 1913, and also took painting trips to Mississippi with an aunt who later bequeathed her enough money to be financially independent.
In 1920, Brown established a summer art colony at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and built her own cottage and studio there. In 1928, she began the Annual Summer Art Exhibitions in the community and maintained leadership of the event for 31 years. The exhibitions included artists from Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. In 1938, she was a founder of the Rehoboth Arts League. She exhibited her work nationally and had a
solo show at the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts in 1952. Brown belonged to numerous arts organizations.
At age 44, Brown she married artist Will Leach. The couple traveled to Florida where she frequently painted tropical plants and to Gloucester (MA).
Brown was an active artist into her eighties and died on December 30, 1959.
Person TypeIndividual
Terms
- female
American painter, illustrator, and printmaker, 1858–1932
American painter and illustrator, 1874–1961
American painter and illustrator, 1875–1968
American illustrator and painter, 1878–1966
American illustrator, 1877–1939
American painter and illustrator, 1861–1956
American painter and illustrator, 1863–1935
American painter, printmaker, 1884–1968
American painter, illustrator, and author, 1863–1938
American illustrator, 1876–1936
