"Se!fPortrait with Teacup" by Emily Farnham, part of the

state of the arts in Provincetown to
the role of women in the arts during
BANNER STAFF
this century.
"I thought this would be a really
Today is Emily Farnham's exciting art colony, and I'm a little
birthday, and the 87-year-old disappointed, to tell the truth," Farnpainter, well-respected art histori- ham says. "When I was here in '49
an, former educator and author is and the '50s, it was perfect. Now all
getting a double present - an they care about is the money."
opening at the Berta Walker
She remembers the heady years
Gallery from 6 to 8 p.m. tomorrow when Hofmann was teaching and
and the first copies of her new the studios and galleries teemed
book, "Hofmann: Abstraction as with artists electrified by new theoPlastic Expression and Notes ry and change. In today's art world,
Made in Hofmann's Classes."
the battle is the same as it was then,
The Walker exhibit spans 40 she says.
years of Farnham's painting and
"The town is awfully narrow
moves the viewer through various about the painters it likes," she says.
styles from representational to ab- "There's always been a war bestract. The book chronicles the tween old-fashioned realism and
teachings uf Hans Hofmann and is modernism."
based on Farnham's years as HofFarnham notes that even Charles
mann's student in the late '40s and Hawthorne, the man considered to
early '50s. (She will also hold a be the father of Provincetown 1s art
book signing·at the gallery from 4 colony was caught up in tbe .two
to 5 p.m. Sunday.)
sides.
After a lifetime of travel and
"He lived in a different time,"
teaching in states from one side of she says of Hawthorne's later years.
the country to the other, Farnham "Art was switching over to modreturned to Provincetown to live ernism, and I don't think he wanted
·out her retirement and continue to change even though they
her work. As she now approacB,es
[Hawthorne and his ~ i f e ] went to
her 90s, she is planning another Paris every winter. ' I J l e y ; s ~ w , P i c a s .. book, plJ,ints when she's not'wri,k
so and his c o m p a n i 9 ~ , ..vho \Vas also
' ifJg, and freely offers h e r , b ~ ~ o r i s ,, avery good pmnter,"and there was
0ll everytlling f r o m h o wCO}ilput- T so much going on ;, around them.
ers affectcreativity and the current They didn't think it ~ o p l d l a s t more
By Sue Harrison
~.
m
"Se!fPortrait with Teacup" by Emily Farnham, part ofthe Berta Walker Gallery show that opens on Friday.
than a few years, but it went on to
become the great art form of the
20th century.''
Farnham ~ r t a i n l y knows about
what has gone in tills century be"
cause she bas - s _ ~ : > e n t m o s t o f h e r life
teachlng art, deSign and art history.
ph
Her doctoral dissertation on Charles be a teacher. She was drawn to art
Demuthwas later turned into a book '.fJ,;om the time she was a very
that was npminated for a National young girl. Her father taught her
Book A w ~ d , , , a n d she is considered .....· h o ~ to d r a ~ with perspective and
oneofthe 'country's top experts on ' , ' " ' h e . r " m o t h ~ r , a classi.caLpianist
that.artist.
-'w9p,admired all the arts,·encouroontinnedonpage38
But Farnhamdidn't start out to
B
~ i ~ h ~ C f stiyly ofspatfa! t e l a t i o t ; s ~ i p s in ~ a ~ . .·
.
. ·: bnkitid and untiue: .M y mother didri't
;time '' thai '''inspired .,. :"Okioo6rria
. . u n ~ ~ i : s t a n d : S ~ e thoiighfmy career ··_woman,;; a depiction of d worn. was made less nnpOrtal)(by men and .' ·down b ~ t not defeated slim. wonian
, : ~ h e wrui righ_tihave ~ o r r i e ~ e n q s ·· surn)unded by small houses and red
· the feeling it doesn't. When I produce writing that's deeply felt, I
. can't do it fast I have to Step over to
a: different state of mind."
.,
Around the irtiddle of the century
i. she stepped to another place, abstract
,:'art, and found it satisfied her. '· .
0' ' "l'ni more interested irt form than
!.·subject, that's '}\thy I took to Hof-
dnoon~· t wth.h. : ~;~thnatk. ; sthtruare,1.~s ,@.P_.: v : r ; ~ ~ ' t , I
Ull\.
. .:· :~~:,:·:"4fifk~g~n ~ ~ ~ n . ; . 4 F a r f J : a r p ' s , ~ " f j ' o J i e m a l e f a c ! ~ . * i r . ~ . / ! t
..
.,
' So s h ~ switched geai-s and .looked
;:\ toward teaching and history. With
. ' stinimers off, she traveled and stud-
dirt e ; v ~ r y w h e i : e . ~ The ''Michigan
Womall.!; refleCtS the large number of
factory workers and she is shO\yn
boxed in by Ford
bids factories
·belching smoke. But the woman
I.
and
:,·: ~ : : I k ~ ; n ; ~ ~ ~ ~ ¥ ~ s : ~ r ! % · ~ : .:.~ c ; ' ~ s ~ ~ ~ ~ = ~ ~ ~ : n : : ~ l i r t w : : : : ~ ~ 1 ~ = : ! " : e ~ : ~ Y ~ ~ · ~ ~ ~ ~
Fanlhani continued from page 33 . in K e n ~ Ohio and went to Cleveland ; .· .to North Carolina and did astint in . .rings her head like'ahalo, the simple .. '·The plane is twO-dimensional, the
aged her by sending h ~ r to art class• ·;q o study art on a scholarship but · .;:.Bonri; Germany. She seived as an art ·· plea!\ure of the carnival delivering
only thing you can touch, But if you
·.soon realized her chances of making i "'consultant,'p3iritett' mUrals in a the- hei from the drudgery of her life.
get behind the surface you are no ·
· es as ~ g i r l .
" ~ o t h e r tried me on singing but a living a s - ~ artist were limited by ..,..,.ater in MeXico and did commercial
The other works are equally comlonger copying nature but building
art' iq Los Angeles. Today she's pelling, especially the strongly rep.- relationships.'• ,., ' '' ., ., : .
I dort':t have a voice;" she says: She . ~ h e r ' ~ ! J d e r , , Of the 26-teacliers:she
,
She continues, ''It's no fun for me
studit!d plano and flute but hei: heart t;;t has had in fier lifetirne;'the m l l j ~ r i t y i·f o_tlnd in 13 different Who's," Who · dered self-portrait with teacup.
. went elsewhere. "I had no passion
were men,'and she says they tended·?):,: o o i n p i l a t i ~ r i S · . . .
,,
. . ;i.
As the-century progressed, Faro- '\ fo dore8lisfu. The fun is in the erefor itJthe flute].;'
. . .
.t<f consisteiltly look down ·on t l l ~ i r
As she left each state; s h ~ pamted '· ·, bani's art ~ d Wrltlng did; too, finally __ -:· atiort o ~ space: Every' phlnting has
· : F ~ a m ' s piisSiori developed for ,., female students. . .
' i '· '·i her distillation of the w o m e n ; w h t f / , : ~ r i . d i n g up' with her Using a '\vord ., two or ihi"ee inotifS that can have
d f a w ~ g and piiiiiting; arid fu:irii)be ' ' : . ; ' : ; ' ~ : ; ~ : T . h : e Y , thought Worileti were not
lived there.
.
. . -. ' ..
. . processor for her papers and books. . several objects in each. What you
i'
.l . .
<, :; :
tf
first she was ~ t t : r a C t e d by strong lines ; very capable of feeling about ~ t l i : .
~ ' I was in Oklahoma during t h ~ .... ,But s h ~ has_m i s ~ v i n , ~ ~ - ~ ~ ~ \ ~ h a t .·I _ e n j o y , ~ s : ~s ~ J ! \ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 1 ' ; ; \ ~ : • r : ~ .
': :,:.• .i< and the telattonship they made to ·:fi that. they would get c a ~ g h t . up ~ •; r windstorms. The town had red dirt '''"'speed d ~ S t o the·end ~ ~ t t ' ' ' l ~ i t { ~ - - ~ l , & . i i i h l . ~ u g l i she's taikilig·aoout
each other and to the spaces b e t w ~ .; . .fanuly matters and not gtve tt therr , everywhere. I walked to and ·from not sure 1t leads to creativtty," she ;>! abstract work, she says the finest
: - the objects on the canvas.
. :. :•:. attention,'' she says of the attitudes
st hool and had to \Va8h my s h b e s " · : ~ : S a ) ' ~ . ' j ' i · n i ~ o t
i t ~ produCe an- ;! . painters have always approached
sure
!
·
F ~ a m ieft h ~ c h i l d h ~ h o ~ y · ~ ~ e ! ~ : · ~ ' : a s v e r y _ I m , ~ ~ ; v n ; ~ t · ~ ~ ~ - ~ e n _I_g ~ ~ E O . I ! ! ~ ; , : : - ~ h c : .
says...o! _!he ·-8 t?.er
\ V I l l i , ~ S h ~ e ~ p e a r e . ~ hay:
' .~;~ ':'
~ ~ ~ ~ o i l next~-'
.· ,
MAY27; 1999
continued from previous page
. "What you are after is space;
their final image that way. She anathat's what's thrilling," she says as ·
lyzes famous paintings and has
she explains her series of drawings.
come to her own theory of why they
"Start with the realism, then say,
are the way they are.
over here is a series of masses and
"If you study Rembrandt you'll
here is s p a c ~ . I think every great
see he would get into the painting painter was a great abstract painter ·
and enjoy it. He didn't care what the
under the surface. Rembrandt was a
public thQught."
great abstract painter."
Farnham pulls out a study where
She puts the study back in its slot
she took a Rembrandt and then be; · in the wall of canvases and drawings
gan to deconstruct it into component
and says she should probably put her
sets of lines and curves. The piece
theories and drawings into a book
begins with a Xerox of his painting
soon. "You have to spend part of life
and ends with her drawing which is
analyzing in music and art," she ad- ·
a completely abstracted series of vises, "but that doesn't come first, it
swirls that she says is, in fact, the comes later on."
same subject.
Happy birthqay, Miss Emily.
Farnham takes on religion in "He Loves All Things."
PROVINCETOWN BANNER
Larkin contilmed f r ~ m p a g e 33 ·ner that she has just switched labels
to Vanguard Records ·after Windnight in Bozeman, Montana. She is
keeping the tour dates fairly close to
ham Hill was recently purchased by
home because she is finishing mix- . the industry giant, BMG, who dising a live album in New York and . continued the High Street label. After discussions with a few other
recording and writing songs for a
new albuill at her home studio 'in
larger-n·ame labels, Larkin decided
Wellfleet. Plus, she has a songbook
Vanguard was the tight place for
due to be published this summer.
her.
"It's kind of a lot happening at
Larkin enjoys experimenting and
once," she says.
testing her own musical limits, or
rather, breaking out of those limits.
But, she adds, she's happy to
On "Perishable Fruits," she experihave a reason to be near home for
mented with achieving different
Memorial Day. "I like doing something at the very beginning of the
sounds,
including percussive
summer," Larkin says, "because it
sounds, using only stringed instruseems like even though it's kind of ments. On her new album, she says,
crazy for many people, it still hasn't
"Everything is just me and a drumgotten to the August total craziness.
mer. It's the bookend of the last
one," although she says she'll be
... I love this time of year. I always
adding other instruments as she lays
describe it as like Oz the first time
down additional tracks.
Dorothy swung through - you
Ben Whitman, the drummer who
knoY/. everything is just so wonderful and beautiful and in full color."
helped to achieve the nontraditional
Then she adds, laughing, "And then
percussive sounds on "Perishable
Fruits," is working with her on her
by August it gets to be like the secnew album. "We're really trying to
ond time she came to Oz, where it's
just very real."
tailor the drum parts to the guitar
On the heels of the success of her
parts, which for me, you know, sort
of the solo player... " Larkin stops, is
last CD, the innovative "Perishable
quiet for a moment, then continues,
Fruits," Larkin's upcoming live al"People don't think I have a big
bum, due out in August, is a mix of
huge ego, but I do," she says, laughsongs from the last four albums she
ing. "I don't want to change my guidid for Windham Hill's High Street
tar part too much. Because of this
label. Larkin announced to the Ban-
39
home-studio setup we can spend a
day, d a y - a n d - a ~ h a l f , working on one
,song. You can do [that] in a large
studio, it just costs a lot more. I
wanted to keep the left-of-center
outlook that I achieved on 'Perishable Fruits.' I think we got' some real .
unique sounds and approached
songs differently."
Larkin says she gets a little nervous doing a concert on her home
turf. "It's scary because - and I
think I've heard other people say the
same thing about playing in or near
their hometown - it's scary because they're your friends, and in the
back of my mind I'm thinking
they're thinking, 'Alright, let's see
what she does all the time when
she's away.'" But, she adds, "I have
a lot offond memories of the Meeting House. I've had more than several epiphanies there, so it's a great
place to play. It has a lot of meaning
for me, and a lot of emotion behind
it."
The benefit concert is scheduled
for 8:30p.m. Sunday, May 30 at the
Universalist Meeting House, 236
Commercial St. Tickets for the concett are $20 at the door, or $18 in advance from Provincetown Reservations System, 293 Commercial St.,
or call (800) 648-0364 or 487-2400.
-...-
Farnham ·exhibit reveals evolutiori of artist
. --:---·-.. - - ~ . .--------·····--·····-- . ______________
, ,
By CINDY NICKERSON
, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PROVINCETOWN - Artist-art
liistorian Emily Farnham celebrated
· her 87th birthday on May 27. And if
she made a wish for lots of happy ·
excitement in her life, it ·certainly
came true.
The following day she attended ·
the opening for a fascinating retrospective of her paintings at Berta
,Walker Gallery. On May 30, she returned to the gallery to autograph
··
copies of her new
book _on .abstract ex.
presswmst
Hans
REVIEW Hofmann.
.
It's exciting, too, to
·.
see the progression
of Farnham's work over the course
of a half-century, ranging from the
1930s to the 1980s.
.
·
-.--A
. -rt
--
'
. ..
.
The subj.ect - 'apparently ~ · . y o u n g
worker dressed for .a rare evening
out- fs really a·type, not any Michi, , gander in particular. Her head has a
downward tilt; like a medieval
Madonna, and is surrounded by the
"halo" of a Ferris wheel, indicating
the fair has come to town. Her face
is innocent, yet a bit weary.
l\1uch, much wearier-looking is
the almost skeletal being ·in "Oklahoma Woman." A discordant background of pale green sky and orange prairie sets the mood. The
woman's pale-lipped grimace of a
smile and the thin breasts under her
.torn yellow dress also speak of the
harshness of her existence.
Two views of mother
'IWo of the portraits are fond representations of Farnham's mother.
Portrait of t h ~ artist
In one, the mother's long white hair
forms
a sweeping cloud of softness.
~ h e e ~ r l i e s t piece is a self-porIn the other, apparently painted durtrait, pamted when Farham was
ing a trip to Italy inJ942, her mother
about 20. She .has a bob of dark
sits, lovely an <;I dignified, in front of .
bi,"own hair, heavy-lidded eyes and
a window affording aview ofVenice.
cupid's-bow, red lips. A later selfFarnham's portraits are distinportrait, dated circa 1952, focuses
guished bY definite outlines, flaton the smooth, silver bun of her
tened shapes and an interest in the
hair. Looking away from the viewer,
space around objects. These same
Farnham holds a teacup with one
intellectual concerns remained with
· hand while studying the palm of the
the artist even after her work beo,ther, as if puzzling out her fortune.
· ·.The future, if she could have fore- and Notes Made . in Hofmann's came much more abstract. But so did
seen it, would have included earning Classes." Farnham, who continued the emotional edge. Even .in painta doctorate in art history from Ohio with her own artwork throughout · ings without a human presence,
State University; a long teaching ca- her academic career, studied with there is often a sense of psychologireer . culminating with15 years at the German-American teacher in cal exposure. This is very strong in
East · Carolina University in 1949 and 1950 in Proviri'cetown and the wonderful "Thorns, a Pink Rose
and Desire." Long red thorns, spiny
Greenville, N.C.; the acclaimed pub- in 1953 in New: York.
lication of her book "Charles DeFarnham's eady portraits are the branches and the fragmentation of
space create the jagged setting for
m u t ~ : B ~ h i n d ·a Laughing Mask" most compelling part of the Berta
(Umversity of Oklahoma · Press, Walker show. In the especially in- two pink gloves that reach for an ele1971); retirement to Provincetown ~ r i g u i n g "Michigan Woman," a styl- vated pink rose.
In her book on Hofmann, Farnham
al1out 20 years ago; and the seif-pub- Ized background of smokestacks
lic.ation of her latest book, "Hofmann: from the Ford and Oldsmobile facto- notes that Hofmann's abstnictionist
Abr traction as Plastisi Expression ries : ~ s t a b l i s h e s Detroit as the setting. theories remained a mystery to some
stur:ents. His talk about "plasticity"
'·
"
and the "push"and-pull" dynamics of
p ~ i n t i n g might have escaped their
understanding even if he'd spoken in
the clearest English instead of with a
thick Germanic accent. Farnham,
however, was quickly on his wavelength. "On my part; after the first
two or three days in his class, I easily
understood what Hofmann was saying, and found delight in his pronunciation .of 'th' as 'z,"' she says in her
book.
One of the works in the show, "Beyond the Wall," was done in Hofmann's class in 1950. Perhaps the
great teacher once stood facing this
painting on Farnham's easel and
said, "Ziss is good." Painted in dark
and golden browns, light blues and
red, the work certainly reveals a
grasp 'of the "push-pull" principle.
(PUSH-PULL 101: A respect for the
two-dimensionality of the picture
plane coupled w:ith the illusion of a
shallow space in which there's a
sense of tension and movement.) In
"Beyond the Wall," skewed rectangles
open up the picture plane, producing
the impression of a controlled explosion.
Later worlcs
'
A r u d i m ~ n t a r y ·sun or eye is the
only representational element in "Beyond the Wall." But judging from the
works on view at Berta Walker, Farnham often slipped a recognizable object or two or three into her paintings
even after coming under Hofmann's
influence. One serene painting from
1963 contains only three round
shapes. B1.1t the poetic words "The
Yellow RiverThrns to Gold When the
Moon Thrns Blue" appear on a black
field, conjuring up a mental image
that serves as a substitute for painted
objects. ·
From the 1970s, "Man and w I F E is
a painting 1wf two birds on a collage
capecod t I M E S
Emily Farnham's "Thorns, a Pink Rose a n ~ Desire" (circa 1951) has an emoti.onal edge that is typical of the artist's work.
of torn canvas - a work as enigmatic
as it is gorgeous. The largest bird (the
"man" of the title?) dominates the picture. Judging by its sleek h,e ad and
talon-tipped webbed feet, it's a seagull. But its legs, feet and outstretched
wing are a surprising emerald green.
Above the gull is a much smaller yellow bird with a blue crest. At his feet
are two speckled eggs.
"Predicament of Womankind:
Bound, Gagged, Imprisoned and
With cHILD,"a piece from the early
1950S, is 1 : ~ more obvious feminist
6/6/99
statement. An abstraction of a
woman with a cross-section view of
a fetus in her stomach occupies the ·
lower righthand corner of the paint- ·
ing. A suggestion ·of a window with
bars appears. at the top.
Farnham may have felt the oppression of sexism during her long career, but surely has done her part to
break through those limitations.
'
Starting today, Cindy Nickerson
will write a weekly art column for
the t I M E S .
r'l
.,-:-:,,,4--...<1
B8
May 15, 2004
THE
BOSTON
GLOBE
Obituaries
'Emily may have had a schoolmarms appearance outwardly, but
there was always that mischiev()us sparkle in her eyes.'
WILLIAM EVAUL OF ThURO,jriend
Dr. Emily Farnham, Provincetown artist, author
By Gloria Negri
painting.
Farnum also saw to it that Emily
Until March, when a fall put tookSaturdaymorningartclasses,
Soon after her 87th birthday, her in nursing home care, she and that she was given flute and
Provincetown artist Emily lived independently in Province- piano lessons.
Dr. Farnham told friends that
Farnham donned one of her clas- town for 24 years, returning to the
sic outfits, applied her bright red artists' ~ l o n y she had first visited when she was 19, her mother sold
lipstick, and went to the Berta as a student of Hofmann's in the her stocks to fund Emily's study at
Walker Gallery for a retrospective summers of 1949, 1950, and 1953. the Cleveland School.of Art for a
of her work from the 1930s
"Emily was a very feisty lady year. The young artist didn't feel
through the 1960s.
with a heart of gold," her neigh- there were sufficient job opportuDuring the Provincetown gal- bor, Andy ~ a s s o m a t o , said. "She nities for artists, so she returned to
lery reception, Dr. Farnham's pub- was so independent, she made it Kent for an undergraduate degree
Usher brought in copies of the difficult for anyone to do anything in education at Kent State Univerbook she had just finished about for her."
sity, and later
her mentor, the Munich-born abOn occasion,
earned a master's
stract artist Hans Hofmann, and Passomato did get
and doctorate de-·
Dr. Farnham signed copies of it for Dr. Farnham out
gree in art history
from Ohio State
gallery-browsers.
todinner.
It was the 20th one-person
':Emily _no_rUniversity.
show for Dr. Farnham, a painter mally picked at
She began her
and art historian, who died May 5 her food until the
career in acadeat Cape End Manor in Province- chocolate cake
mia in 1934, eventown after a massive stroke. She and ice cream
tually teaching art
would have turned 92 later this were served," he
history to some
month.
said. "She took
8,000 students in
"Emily was an American mod- very good care of
eight states and at
ernist," said Ema Partoll, assistant herself physically
as many colleges
director of Walker gallery, one of and would not go
and universities
the Cape's most prestigious. "She out without the
before retiring
started out in representational proper attire.. and
from teaching in
. work, not abstract, and pro- lipstick"
1976
gressed into abstraction, and this
Dr. Farnham's DR. EMILY FARNHAM
While chairwas due to the influence of Hans delight in bright-colored clothes, man of the art history department
Hofmann."
and in coordinating them with the at East Carolina University in
Dr. Farnham's work, including turbans she sometimes wore, was North Carolina, her last teaching
portraits, is represented in public a reflection of her lifelong dedica- position, Dr. Farnham served for
and private collections and has tion to her art and how it affected seven years as a gubernatorial aphung in many Cape galleries.
the human psyche.
pointee to the board of the North
The earliest piece in the retroShe had been an artist since Carolina Museum of Art in Raspective, the Cape Cod Times re- childhood. Dr. Farnham was born leigh, and taught at ECU's Europeported in 1999, was a self-portrait in Kent, Ohio, one of two girls. A an Studies Center in Bonn.
painted when Dr. Farnham was cousin, Norma Frieden of SherShe became an expert on the
about 20. "She has a bob of dark born, said Dr. Farnham's father, painter Charles Demuth, a membrown hair, heavy-lidded eyes, Burt Farnum, abandoned the fam- ber of the Group of Five associated
and cupid's-bow red lips," the pa- ily when Dr. Farnham was 6. As a with photographer Alfred
per reported.
way of never forgiving him, Dr. Stieglitz's gallery of contemporary
Dr. Farnham, listed in Who's Farnham later changed the spell- art. Her 1971 biography of DeWho in America, Who's Who In ing of her surname.
muth, "Charles Demuth: Behind a
The World, and in 12 other Who's
She treasured her mother, Laughing Mask," was nominated
Who's,paintedatabigeaselinthe Metta Lake (Huggins) Farnum, foraNationalBookAward.
studio she had arranged in her liv- Dr. Farnham told friends. To enWilliam Evaul of Truro, an arting room with its west and south- courage young Emily to paint, her ist friend, said that while Dr. Farnfacing windows. A year ago, osteo- mother set aside a corner of the ham on first appearance seemed
- -nnr.osi
E D H E R T O S T O PK ITHCEN
I
FOR F I R S R S T U D I O m R S . " V E R Y P OPER, sher A N D ' T E A
GLOBE STAFF
drinking PERSON,"she was broad-
minded and blase enough to research and write a book about the
exotic and decadent life of
Demuth, who lived at the turn of
the 20THcentury and died young.
"eMILYmay have had a schoolmarm's appearance outwardly,"
Evaul said, ''but there was always
that mischievous sparkle in her
eyes."
Dr. Farnham's book about Hofmann, "Hofmann - Abstraction
as Plastic Expression and Notes
Made in Hofmann1s Classes," was
somewhat tamer.
Until her fall, Dr. Farnham was
also sketching out other ideas for
books. Roslyn Garfield, her attorney, said she was thinking of a
book abo)lt conversations with
artists. Passomato said she talked
to him about writing one about
Kent, Ohio, where she grew up
across the street from the people
who gave their land to create Kent
State University.
Apart from her art, which still
consumed her life, friends said,
Dr. Farnham loved and contributed financially to the welfare of animals, and she adored her Siamese
cat, Prince.
She loved to read newspapers
and ''was proud of the fact that she
never learned to cook," Passomato
said.
Dr. Farnham, who never married, continued to make friends
across age groups. "Emily was very
hip and stayed in touch with all
generations," Skipper Evaul of
Truro said. "She had incredible
clothes. She was a presence."
Sometimes, when Dr. Farnham
felt lonely, she might offer to paint
a friend's portrait, as she did for
Passomato.
"Emily would have me sit," Passomata said, ''but she never quite
finished the portrait. I think she
liked the company."
A service is planned in Provincetown.
t> MAY13, 2004
1-
PROVINCETOWNBANNER
\
Obituaries~------'-------'-~Emily Farnham, 91
--
Artist, ~ a u t h o r ,
educator studied
with Hofmann
Dr. Emily Farnham, 91, of
Provincetown, died Wednesday, May 5 at the ·Cape End
Manor after an illness.
Dr. Farnham was born in
Kent, Ohio and studied at the
Cleveland ·School of Art. She
earned both her MA and Ph.D . .
degrees at Ohio State University. She traveled to ProvinceEmily Farnham
town where she studied with
noted abstract expressionist
mers. She painted murals in
Haris Hofmann in 1949 and
Mexico and did c o m m ~ r c i a l
1950. She continued her work
art work in Los Angeles. Often,
with Hof1llann in New York.
after she had spent a block of
Hofmann, she often said,
time in an area, she would dis· was the greatest influence
till what she felt to be the
on her life.
essence of the women · there
Dr. Farnham taught at Kerit
and put that c r y s t ~ I l i z e d
State University, East Carolina
woman into a painting. In 1976
University and the ECU Euroshe r e t i r ~ d as chairman of ait
: pean Studies Center in Bonn,
history at East Carolina UniverGermany. In the course of her
sity and three years. later
career she taught over 8,000
moved to Provincetown.
students. She also had many
In addition to her painting
' shows of her own work. She set
and teaching, she was also ·a n
up her life around teaching
author. Her 1972 · b_ook,
and thei1 traveling in the sum"Charles Demuth: Behind a
.
\
:,' .
Lau. ghing-Mask," was c.rit1_·c. a- 1 - 1 ~1
well received and nominate
for a" N a t i o ~ a l Book A w ~ r d
She was considered a f01;emosl
expert o ~ Demuth's p. a.i-~-tin. g_s_.
She published a second .book,
"Hofmann - Abstraction. As
' Plastic Expression and -Notes
~ a d e i ~ _Hofmann's Classes:".\
m 2002_simultaneous -to _a ,r¢t1
~ o s p e c t i v e _ of her work: hel-d a·_t-'\
. the Berta Walker Gallery.; She
had ·an extensive art lib'r ary'
and continued to work on her
lif~-· Af- . t _- - ~ - r
ar-t
. oughoutbook
he_ _·r 3 she:· said_· \
the thr
ljofmann
she was beginning a.third,book
but it was not completed PRIOR
to her death:
_ ._ ' \
She is s ~ r v i v . e d by. acousin, \
Norma Fneden of Sherburn,
Mass. and many friends ,
'
A memorial is -.,,))eing /
plamied,for a' date inJtme to .
be announced later, Memor:ial .
DONATIONSmay be made to the \
Provincetown Art AssociatiQri,
- 460 Commercial St, Provincetown, _MA 02657 or the Cape
End Manor ._ Residents F u n d ,
100 Alden ,St., ·Provincetow,n,
.MA02657.