JOSEPHINE AMES MORTON

Josephine Ames Morton was the daughter of American Portraitist Joseph Alexander Ames (1819-1872) and American Sculptor, Sarah Fisher Clampitt (1817-1901), best known for her portrait bust of Abraham Lincoln. Morton was active in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Italy, specializing in landscape, marine and floral painting. She was a pupil of Thomas Eakins and Jean-Paul Laurens (1838-1941) and Benjamin Constant (1845-1902) while studying in Paris. She was a member of the Newport Art Association. In Philadelphia in 1886 she married Williams College Professor Asa Henry Morton. They lived at 718 Main Street in Williamstown in a Queen Anne style house built in 1880 where Josephine used the third floor as a studio salon which was the scene of many Sunday afternoon social gatherings. According to American Art News in February, 1913, Morton was exhibiting with Fred Dana Marsh at Carroll Studios Gallery, 64 West 38th St, New York, NY. American Art News described her works in the exhibition: “Mrs. Morton’s landscapes and marines proved very popular. They had delicacy of handling and joyous and appealing color. Morton continued to exhibit in New York City in 1914 with fellow artists Jean Howe Atwater, Horace Brown, Ronald Hargrave and Hugh Tyler. In 1917 she exhibited two works at the First Annual Exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists at the Grand Central Palace in New York City. She would continue to exhibit with the Society of Independent Artists in 1918, 1919 and 1921. The first exhibition at the Williams College Museum of Art in 1927 was a one-woman show of her work. She died in Williamstown, MA in 1925 and is buried at the Williams College cemetery.