Artist Biographies
Angela O'Leary
1879 - 1921
She was a talented woman artist who was born and spent most of her life in Providence. Among present day collectors she has reached folklore status because of her tragic suicide in her studio in the Fleur de Lys at age 42.
O’Leary studied at the Rhode Island School of Design under S.R. Burleigh and was also a member of the Providence Art Club and Providence Watercolor Club. Her fellowship with other watercolor painters influenced her approach to painting but a rich background in art and literature fueled her imagination. She had a very fine color sense and evolved her style over time into a distinct narrative quality.
In 1921 she had a well-received exhibit at the Providence Art Club with color woodblock artist, Eliza Gardiner. Sadly, later that year the club would host a memorial exhibit after her death.
O’Leary received critical review for her first Boston exhibition at the Grace Horne Gallery by Downes in the Boston Transcript. He wrote,
“In the assortment of merits and qualities belonging to the outfit of Miss Angela O’Leary … we notice with pleasure a well developed sense of humor, which invest her picturesque street scenes, painted in many cities at home and abroad. They are cabinet size, very unpretentious and very well painted.”