Artist Biography

Rowena ABDY
1887 - 1945

ABDY, Rowena Fischer Meeks (1887-1945). Painter, illustrator. Born in Vienna, Austria of wealthy American parents on April 24, 1887. Crippled at birth, one of Rowena’s legs was shorter than the other. During the 1890s she came to San Francisco and as a teenager began art instruction at the Mark Hopkins Institute under Arthur Mathews. In 1910 she married writer Harry B. Abdy and bought a home in Monterey where she further studied with Armin Hansen. From there she built a Mission-Style home in San Juan Bautista. In 1917 Mrs. Abdy moved to San Diego and by 1926 had returned to San Francisco into a home on crooked Lombard Street where she remained. Traveling about California in her large car which she had converted into a studio, she could sketch in comfort and privacy. After 1929 her work became more modern. Working in oil, watercolor and charcoal, Abdy depicted scenes of missions, mining camps, and early California during the Spanish rule. She died in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 1945 of alcoholism. Member: San Francisco Art Ass'n; California Watercolor Society; Carmel Art Ass'n; Club Beaux Arts (San Francisco); Sketch Club (San Francisco); American Federation of Artists. Exhibited: Sketch Club, 1908; Del Monte Art Gallery, 1908-12; San Francisco Museum of Art, 1920 (silver medal); Southwest Museum (LA), 1921 (1st prize); Calif. State Fair, 1923 (premium); PAFA, 1924; Arizona State Fair, 1925, 1930 (1st prizes); CPLH, 1932 (solo); GGIE, 1939; LACMA; Seattle Museum; AIC; San Diego FA Gallery; San Francisco Art Ass'n; annuals. Works held: Nevada Museum (Reno); Commercial Club (San Francisco); Mills College, (Oakland); California Palace of Legion of Honor; Seattle Museum.

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