Marguerite Zorach
Born 1887, Santa Rosa, California
Died 1968, New York
1908 Stanford University
1908-1911 Académie de La Palette, Paris
Selected museum exhibitions: Phillips Museum of Art, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania (2011); Colby College of Art Museum, Waterville, Maine (1968); Forum Exhibition of Modern American Painters, New York (1916); Armory Show, New York (1913); Salon d'Automne, Paris (1911) Société des Artistes Indépendants, Paris (1910)
Selected honors: Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Bates College (1964); Logan Medal of the Arts, Art Institute of Chicago (1920); Silver Medal, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco (1919)
Selected public collections: Brooklyn Museum; de Young Museum, San Francisco; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; Portland Museum of Art, Maine; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art
American painter Marguerite Zorach lived in Paris from 1908 through 1912, absorbing the influence of Fauvism and associating with figures like Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse, also meeting her future husband, artist William Zorach there. Night Still Life was painted in their home in Maine, where they lived when not in New York. In the colorful still life, Zorach painted a scene from her immediate environment, presenting a windowsill like a stage set that dramatically juxtaposes an abundance of vibrant flowers with the silver pitcher and brilliant yellow curtains.