Marcella Comès Winslow

Marcella Comès Winslow (born Marcella Rodange Comès; September 3, 1905[1] – July 6, 2000) was an American photographer and portrait painter. She was the official portrait painter of the United States Poet Laureate.

Marcella Comès Winslow
Born
Marcella Rodange Comès

September 3, 1905[1]
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US
DiedJuly 6, 2000 (aged 94)
EducationCarnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts
Known forPhotographer and portrait painter
Notable work
Official portrait painter of the United States Poet Laureate; held literary salons in her home in Georgetown
Spouse(s)William Randolph Winslow
ElectedPresident of the Washington, D.C. chapter of Artists Equity Association; Vice President for the organizations' national association. Member of the Corcoran Gallery of Art's Women's Commission

Life and education

Marcella Rodange Comès was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 3, 1905, one of three daughters of architect John T. Comès and his wife, Honora B. "Nora" Webber.[2] She attended the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts. She also trained in Europe. She had taught painting at Catholic University from 1965 to 1969.

She lived in Washington, D.C. and was active in the art scene. She was married to William Randolph Winslow who was a Colonel in the United States Military. He served in World War II and Comès raised their two children in Washington while he was stationed in England.[2][3] Their home in Georgetown was a salon space frequented by literary figures of the time.[4] Colonel Winslow died of pneumonia while serving in 1945.

Comès died on July 6, 2000, aged 94 or 95, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery alongside her husband.[5]

Career

Comès was the official portrait painter of the United States Poet Laureate. As official portrait painter, she painted portraits of Allen Tate, Elizabeth Bishop, Karl Shapiro, and Léonie Adams. She also painted portraits of Robert Lowell, Ezra Pound, Saint-John Perse, Caroline Gordon, Walter de la Mare, John Rothenstein, Denis Devlin, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Richard Eberhart, Robert Frost, Katherine Anne Porter, Anne Goodwin Winslow, Mark Van Doren, Robert Penn Warren, Eudora Welty, Walter Jackson Bate, and John Huston Finley.[3][6][7][8]

She served as president of the Washington, D.C. chapter of Artists Equity Association and was vice president for the organizations' national association. She was involved as a member of the Corcoran Gallery of Art's Women's Commission.[3]

Legacy

Her work is held in the collections of the Harvard Art Museums and the National Portrait Gallery.[8][9] Her papers are held in the Archives of American Art.[3]

Further reading
  • Winslow, Marcella Comès. Brushes With the Literary: Letters of a Washington Artist 1943-1959. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press (1993). ISBN 0807117617

References
  1. "John T. Comes, Roman Catholic Church Architect - Body of Work". www.johntcomes.com.
  2. Darlene Harbour Unrue (May 13, 2010). Katherine Anne Porter Remembered. University of Alabama Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-8173-1667-9. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  3. "Marcella Comès (Winslow) papers, 1915-1982, and undated". Research collections. Archives of American Art. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  4. Devaney, Robert. "House Tour 2012". The Georgetowner. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  5. Arlington National Cemetery
  6. "Walter Jackson Bate". Art. Harvard Art Museums. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  7. "John Huston Finley Jr". Art. Harvard Art Museums. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  8. "Harry Tuchmann Levin (1912-1994)". Art. Harvard Art Museums. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  9. "Ezra Loomis Pound". Portrait search. National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
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