Description: This portrait depicts Ezekial Walker (1802-1883) of Cincinnati, Ohio, ca. 1870-1879. He is described as "a lawyer and money broker, a civic worker, a promoter of art, a maker of violins, a philosopher in a school of his own and in his later years a recluse." The photograph shows him seated painting a portrait, with a violin leaning against his chair. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06979
Subjects: Ohio History--Settlement and Early Statehood; Cincinnati (Ohio); Lawyers--Ohio; Artists--Ohio; Musical instruments
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Polaroid print of Mary Borkowski, a nationally recognized folk artist from Dayton, Ohio, ca. 1970-1979. She is known for her thread paintings. Her works are included in the collections of the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City, the Smithsonian Institution, the Presidential Libraries of Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon, the Dayton Art Institute, and Sinclair Community College. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03656
Subjects: Folk art--Ohio; Artists--Ohio; Ohio Women
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of an exhibit of early Ohio glass, possibly in the rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse. Since the early nineteenth century glassmaking has been one of the major industries of Ohio, and Ohio glass holds an important place in the development of the industry in the United States. According to Rhea Mansfield Knittle of Ashland, Ohio, whose book "Early American Glass" was published in 1927, the first glass house in Ohio was a Zanesville organized by a group of citizens and incorporated May 13, 1815, as the White Glass Works. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07538
Subjects: Other--Ohio Historical Society; Glass industry; Glassware; Art, American--Ohio; Artists--Ohio; Arts and crafts movement
Places: Columbus (Ohio)
 

Description: Archibald Willard (1836-1918) is one of Ohio's best-known painters and was born in Bedford, Ohio, in 1836. In 1855, he and his family moved to Wellington, Ohio, where Willard became an apprentice to E.S. Tripp and gained experience and training as an artist. During the American Civil War, Willard enlisted in the 86th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He began to draw pictures of what he saw during the war and, in partnership with James F. Ryder, began to sell reproductions of his work. In 1875, Willard moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he set up a studio. It was in Cleveland where Willard painted his most famous work, which he called "Yankee Doodle." Eventually it became know as "The Spirit of 76." He died in 1918. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04086
Subjects: Artists--Ohio; Cultural Ohio--Art and Artists; Ohio--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Regimental histories;
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Digital photograph of a watercolor painting by Ralph Fanning (1889-1971) depicting the Broad St. Methodist Church in Columbus, Ohio. Fanning spent the years from 1921 until 1956 as historian of art and architecture at the Ohio State University, and was an important regional artist. The painting was created between 1940 and 1945 and photographed in 2004. It is part of the fine art collection of the Ohio Historical Society. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05190
Subjects: Artists--Ohio; Church buildings--Ohio; Multicultural Ohio--Religion in Ohio; Columbus (Ohio); Streets--Ohio; Cultural Ohio--Art and Artists
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Lithograph print depicting the Battle of Logan's Cross Roads, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Fishing Creek or Mill Springs, fought on January 19, 1862. Union forces defeated Confederate forces to gain control of the region. Depicted in the scene are the 2nd Minnesota, 4th Kentucky and 10th Indiana at left, the death of Zollicoffer near the center, Union and Secession forces in the distance, and General Crittenden and staff at right. The lithograph was created from a sketch by Alfred E. Mathews who served with the 31st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Mathews (1831-1874) was born in Bristol, England, but moved with his family to settle in Rochester, Ohio, when he was two years old. He was working as a schoolteacher in Alabama when the Civil War broke out, and returned north to enlist in the 1st Ohio Artillery in August 1861. He later joined the 31st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and fought in battles including Corinth, Stone River, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. During his three-year enlistment he drew numerous sketches of scenes he witnessed, which were made into lithographs and sold, including publication in Harper's Weekly. He moved west following the war and continued his work as an artist, until his sudden death at the age of 43. He is buried on his ranch near Longmount, Colorado. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08608
Subjects: Civil War 1861-1865; Battlefields; Military Ohio; Artists--Ohio
Places: Mill Springs (Kentucky)
 

Description: Photograph of Mary Borkowski displaying one of her thread paintings, October 2002. Borkowski is a nationally recognized folk artist from Dayton, Ohio. In these paintings, she used silk thread on silk, velvet, felt or cotton background. Mary was born in Sulpher Lick Springs, Ohio, in 1916 and died in Dayton in 2008 View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03385
Subjects: Women artists - Ohio; Multicultural Ohio--Ohio Women;
 

Description: "This Little Pig Went to Market" was painted by artist Lilly Martin Spencer in 1857. The painting is part of the Ohio Historical Society fine art collection. Spencer was born in England and raised in Marietta, Ohio. She received art training in Marietta and Cincinnati, Ohio, before moving to New York in 1844. Spencer was known for her domestic genre scenes. Her original art inspired mass-produced lithographs, which appealed to women's sensibilities regarding domestic life in the second half of the 19th century. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00778
Subjects: Spencer, Lilly Martin, 1822-1902; Multicultural Ohio--Ohio Women; Art, American--Ohio; Artists
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio); Marietta (Ohio); Washington County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of Lilly Martin Spencer, ca. 1900. Angelique Marie "Lilly" Martin was born in England in 1822 to French parents Gilles Marie Martin and Angelique Le Petit Martin. In 1830, her family left England for New York, where Gilles Martin taught French. The family eventually settled in Marietta, Ohio, three years after arriving to the United States. Spencer was home schooled by her mother and began drawing landscapes and portraits at a young age. She became famous for her domestic scenes, which she was commissioned to paint for housewives and prominent local businessmen in Marietta and later for middle class homes in New York City. During the Civil War, Spencer's work took on a more serious tone and in the later part of the 19th century she began to focus on rural life and detailed landscapes. She studied with Ohio artists Sala Bosworth, Charles Sullivan, and James Beard. Lilly married Benjamin Rush Spencer, an English tailor living in Cincinnati, soon after meeting him in 1844. The couple had 13 children, seven of whom survived. In 1848, the family moved to New York City, where Lilly showed her work at the National Academy of Design and the American Art-Union. Despite her popularity, she did not get enough commissions to support her family and began experimenting with lithographs, eventually becoming one of the most popular producers in New York City. After a brief time in New Jersey, the family moved to a farm in Highland, New York, in 1879, where they lived until Benjamin Spencer died in 1890. Lilly Martin Spencer continued her art career until her death on May 22, 1902. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MSS972_B01F22_01
Subjects: Spencer, Lilly Martin, 1822-1902; Multicultural Ohio--Ohio Women; Art, American--Ohio; Artists
Places: Marietta (Ohio); Washington County (Ohio)
 

Description: Snowy rural scene, from the Silas Martin Collection. Silas Martin (1841-1906) was born and raised in Westerville, Ohio, a small community north of Columbus. He studied with noted portrait painter John H. Witt, who is remembered for the numerous Ohio governors' portraits he painted. Martin served as head of the art department at The Ohio State University from 1898 until 1906. One of his most famous and devoted pupils was fellow Ohioan George Bellows. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04150
Subjects: Winter; Snow; Cultural Ohio--Art and Artists; Ohio State University--History; Landscape photography; Rural life
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Watercolor of a round barn and silo by Ralph Fanning, ca. 1945-1955. Artist and art historian Ralph Fanning was born on Long Island in 1889. A Quaker, Fanning served in France in compassionate non-military service during World War I. In the 1920s, he joined the Ohio State University Art Department, becoming a full professor in 1924. Fanning was a skilled artist, especially talented at depicting bridges and buildings. He sketched and painted numerous buildings in Columbus and throughout Ohio. In 1950, Fanning became ill and was later diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The disease affected his work, but he continued to paint and sketch. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04158
Subjects: Barns; Ohio Economy--Agriculture; Cultural Ohio--Art and Artists; Ohio State University--History
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Bicentennial barn-painting program was an inexpensive, grassroots marketing campaign that painted the official logo of the Ohio Bicentennial on a highly visible historic barn in each of Ohio's 88 counties. Over 2,000 farmers and landowners submitted their barn descriptions to the committee for consideration. Beginning in 1998, artist Scott Hagan spent five years painting the logos, tailored to every barn's unique character. Typically, the barn owners hosted a celebration at the completion of their barn painting. This photograph is an exterior view of Scott Hagan posing in front of Barn #63, located on Route 127 just north of Route 40 in Preble County. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08530
Subjects: Centennial celebrations; Ohio History--State and Local Government; Barns; Ohio Bicentennial, 2003; Artists--Ohio;
Places: Preble County (Ohio)