Untitled by Charlotte Leaming, Oil on Board
Artist Biography
Charlotte Leaming was born in Chicago in 1871 and made a name for herself as a painter of animals. Charlotte found many of her subjects in the Lincoln Park Zoo, as well as farms in the countryside. Later, Charlotte purchased a ram and a sheep and a cow, which she housed in her basement studio in downtown Chicago.
In May 1901 the Chicago Daily Tribune reported that “The residents of Lake Avenue near Fortieth Street, saw a tall, slender young woman in a painting apron, brilliant as Joseph’s coat, running madly down the middle of the street after two sheep. Paint brushes in one hand, palette in the other, she ran for two blocks, then transferring the brushes to the hand that held the palette, she made a final dash and clutched the ram’s wooly back. After that it was a mere matter of tugging and persuasion to get both of the mild-eyed animals back to the studio, especially adapted to the work to which the painter of animals devotes her time.”
Charlotte loved telling the story of an old farmer who visited the Chicago Art Institute when she was copying “Millet’s New Born Calf.” After watching her for a time, the farmer asked, “How much ‘ll you git for that ?” After she named the price, he pointed to the original and inquired, “how high will that come frame and all?” When told its value of many hundreds of dollars, he said scornfully, “the calf in your’n is lots more like calves than the other’n in the frame!”
Charlotte studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and took classes with Willian Chase and Albert Herter in New York as well as Frank Duveneck in Cincinnati. Charlotte taught at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1898 through 1905. She was an art supervisor at the Oak Park schools and taught at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in the early 1900s.
Charlotte moved to Colorado Springs, joining her sister Susan in establishing the Academy of Fine Arts in 1911. In 1917 the Academy joined with Colorado College, and Charlotte taught for many years at Colorado College with the title of Professor of Art Appreciation and Art History, until her retirement in 1940. She was associated for years with the Broadmoor Art Academy. Charlotte passed away on January 4, 1972 at the age of 100.
