Marguerite Pearson (American, 1899-1978) was born in Philadelphia on August 1, 1899. She was confined to a wheelchair in her teens after being stricken with polio. This did not hinder her from fulfilling her dream of becoming a respected figure and genre painter. Not wanting to burden or be overly dependent upon her family or friends, Pearson quickly learned how to manipulate a wheelchair and did not allow her handicap to ruin her life or career. She is known for her interior scenes, as well as her still lifes and figurative works.  Pearson moved to Rockport, Massachusetts in 1941, where she taught and painted until her death in 1978.

Studied

BMFA Sch. with Frederick Bosley; privately with Edmund Tarbell, 1922-27; William James; Rockport Summer Sch.; landscape with Aldro T. Hibbard & Harry Leith-Ross; design with Henry Hunt Clark & Howard Giles; illustration with Harold N. Anderson & Chase Emerson.

Member

Allied Artists Am.; Guild Boston Artists; North Shore AA; Rockport AA; Acad. Artistss Soc.; Phila. Art All.; Sanity in Art; Ogunquit AA; SC; CAFA; AAPL; Wash. AC.

Exhibited

PAFA Ann., 1924-36; Corcoran Gal. biennials, 1926-35 (3 times); NAD, 1925-29, 1931-32, 1934; Springville Art Gal., 1935-42, 1946; All. Artists Am., 1925-46, 1971; New Haven PCC (award), 1932, 1938; CAFA, 1925-32; Jordan Marsh Gal., 1930-46, 1972 (Ann. Exhib. Of New England Artists); North Shore AA, 1926-46; Rockport AA, 1923-46 (many medals); Springville, UT, 1937 (prize); NAC, 1966 (prize); AAPL (gold); SC, 1941 (gold); North Shore AA, 1930 (prize), 1972 (mem. Prize award); AAPL, 1961 (gold medal for best oil painting); Wolfe Art Club, Council Am. Artists Soc., 1970 (award); Ogunquit AC (award); Springfield (MA) Art Mus. (Academic Art); Pierce Gal., Hingham, MA, 1980s

Work

Springville (UT) Art Mus.; New Haven Pub. LIb.; Beach Mem. Art Mus., Storrs, CT; Monson (MA) State Hospital; Gardiner (MA) H.S.; Boston Music Sch.; Brigham Young Univ.; Mechanics Bldg., Boston; Episcopal Diocesan House, Boston; Trade Sch. for Girls, and Wilson, Brooks, and Burke Sch., Boston; Grimmins and Chandler Sch., Somerville, MA; Somerville, Medford and Gloucester (MA) City Halls; Case Inst. Tech., Cleveland, Ohio; Draper (UT) School; Salem (MA) Court House; Bruckner Mus., Albion, MI; Case Inst. Technology, Cleveland, OH;  Salem (MA) Court House Portrait Coll.; Somerville (MA) City Hall Portrait Coll.

Resources

WW73; WW47; 300 Years of American Art, vol.2: 881; Vose Galleries, Mary Bradish Titcomb and Her Contemporaries, 46-47; Falk, Exh. Record Series.