Martha Kantor (1896–1981) was an American glass painter. She was a member of the art colony in New City, New York, and "recognized as a master" of painting on glass."[1]

Martha Kantor
Born
Martha Ryther

1896
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died1981(1981-00-00) (aged 84–85)
EducationModern Art School
OccupationGlass painter
Spouse(s)Jock Fulton
Morris Kantor

Early life

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Kantor was born as Martha Ryther in 1896 in Boston, Massachusetts.[1][2] Her mother, Martha Dickinson, was a painter and Kantor took painting lessons from Maurice Prendergast at a young age.[2] She subsequently studied under Hugo Robus and William Zorach at the Modern Art School in New York City.[1]

Career

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Kantor joined an art colony in New City, New York co-founded by her former teacher Hugo Robus and another artist, Henry Varnum Poor in 1918.[3] By the 1930s, she took up painting on glass, an old method of folk art.[2] She painted Cape Cod houses and still lifes.[2] Her work was exhibited at the Zabriskie Gallery in New York City. According to The New York Times, she became "recognized as a master of the medium."[1]

Kantor was the founder of the Rockland Foundation, later known as the Rockland Center for the Arts in West Nyack, New York.[2]

Personal life, death and legacy

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Kantor was married twice. Her first husband was Jock Fulton. Her second husband, Morris Kantor, was an artist.[1] Kantor resided on South Mountain Road in New City, New York,[2] and she summered in Provincetown, Massachusetts.[1]

Kantor died of cancer on January 10, 1981 in New City, New York, aged 84.[1] She was the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Rockland Center for the Arts in November 1981.[2] One of her paintings, Reading In Bed, is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.[4] The Art Institute of Chicago holds a screen-printed silk work by her.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Kramer, Hilton (January 10, 1981). "Martha Kantor, 84; Painted On Glass". The New York Times. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Retrospective exhibition of art works by Martha Ryther opens this weekend". The Journal News. White Plains, New York. November 6, 1981. p. 44. Retrieved November 20, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Sculptor Hugo Robus Of New City Is Dead". The Record. Hackensack, New Jersey. January 15, 1964. p. 54. Retrieved November 19, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Martha Ryther, Reading in Bed, 1943, oil on glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Virginia Zabriskie, 1985.100". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  5. ^ Kantor, Martha Ryther. "Off to War". The Art Institute of Chicago.