Lila Oliver Asher
Lila Oliver Asher | |
---|---|
Born | November 15, 1921 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Died | February 11, 2021 |
Nationality | American |
Education | Fleischer Art Memorial, 1933–1938, Frank B. A. Linton, 1938–1942 |
Spouses | Sydney S. Asher (died)Kenneth P. Crawford (died) |
Children | Warren Oliver Asher (deceased), Bonnie Asher |
Lila Oliver Asher (November 15, 1921 – February 11, 2021) was an American artist and printmaker.[1] She is best known for her printmaking, primarily with linocut and woodcut, and her subjects spanned from religious themes, myths, musicians, and mothers. Asher also explored a variety of mediums including watercolor, sculpture, drawing, portraiture, wrought iron, murals, stained glass windows, and published book about her experiences as an artist in World War II. She explored these themes and mediums over the expanse of her long career as they connected with her experiences in life.
Life
Early years
Lila was born Lila Estelle Oliver on November 15, 1921, in
Middle years
After the war, in 1946, Asher moved to
Later years
In a 1987 newspaper, The Hilltop (a Howard University newspaper), it was pointed out that “Asher has had more than 27 one-person shows in cities throughout the nation, and has had shows in India, Iran, Turkey, and Japan”.[6] Since 1991 she had been Professor Emerita and continued to work in her studio before her death in 2021.[4] One of Asher's later solo exhibits, in 2013, showed a collection of her works within many mediums and was called "A Life With Line".[7]
Death and relatives
Asher died of complications from surgery for a perforated ulcer on February 11, 2021, at a care center in Washington at the age of 99.[3]
Works
Men I Have Met In Bed
In addition to Asher's artwork, she wrote a book about the experiences she had while volunteering for the USO and making portraits for soldiers. Her book, Men I Have Met In Bed, (Heritage Books) consists of the stories of servicemen she encountered in hospitals she would travel to and spend a week at. One of Asher's sketches from her time sketching servicemen has been featured in the magazine On Patrol in 2012. This specific issue is on women in the military with the cover highlighting a sketch from Asher of a servicewoman in a wheelchair.[8] Asher even describes her book as "a patchwork of stories about the many soldiers and sailors who came back from World War II less than whole".[9]
In addition, the
Career achievements
Permanent collections
- Nat. Museum of American Art, Wash. D.C.
- Corcoran Gallery of Art, Wash. D.C.
- Howard Univ. Gallery of Art, Wash., D.C.
- Barnett Aden Collection, Tampa, Fla.
- Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
- Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Va.
- B'nai B'rith, Wash. D.C.
- City of Wolfsburg, Germany
- David Lloyd Kreeger Collection, Wash. D.C.
- Superior Court of the Dist. of Columbia, Wash., D.C.
- Federal Mediation and Conciliation Serv., Wash., D.C.
- Center for Research in Education of the Disadvantaged, Jerusalem, Israel
- Embassy of the U.S., Tel Aviv, Israel
- Embassy of the U.S., Mexico City, Mexico
- Fisk Univ., Nashville, Tenn.
- Montgomery County Collection of Contemporary Prints, Montgomery County, Md.
- Nat. Council on Art in Jewish Life; American Jewish Congress, New York, N.Y.
- Georgetown Univ., Wash., D.C.
- Nat. Mus. of History, Taipei, Taiwan
- Kastrupgårdsamlingen Kunst Museum, Denmark
- Nat. Museum of Women in the Arts, Wash. D.C.
- Jundt Museum, Gonzaga Univ. Spokane, Wash.
In addition to these permanent collections Asher's work is also in private collections in the U.S. and abroad.
Solo exhibitions
- 1951 - Barnett Aden Gallery, Wash., D.C.
- 1955 - William C. Blood Gallery, Phila., Pa.
- 1957 - Arts Club, Wash., D.C.
- 1959 - Collectors Gallery, Wash., D.C.
- 1960 - Garrett Park Public Library, Garrett Park, Md.
- 1963 - Burr Galleries, New York, N.Y.
- 1965 - Gallery Two Twenty Two, El Paso, Tex.
- 1968 - Thomson Gallery, New York, N.Y.
- 1969 - B'nai B'rith Headquarters, Wash., D.C.
- 1970 - Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
- 1972 - Green-Field Gallery, El Paso, Tex.
- 1972 - Northwestern Michigan College
- 1972 - Franz Bader Gallery, retrospective, Wash., D.C.
- 1973 - American Club, Tokyo, Japan
- 1974 - USIS Bombay, India
- 1974 - Iran-America Soc., Teheran, Iran
- 1974 - Fisk Univ., retrospective, Nashville, Tenn.
- 1975 - USIS Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, India
- 1975 - USIS Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, Pakistan
- 1976 - USIS Ankara and Adana, Turkey
- 1976 - Via Gambaro Gallery, Wash., D.C.
- 1978 - Gallery Kormendy, Alexandria, Va.
- 1978 - Howard Univ., retrospective
- 1979 - Washington Hebrew Cong., Wash., D.C.
- 1980 - Northeastern Univ., Boston, Mass.
- 1982 - Nat. Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
- 1982 - Kastrupgårdsamlingen Kunst Museum, Denmark
- 1985 - Gallaudet Univ. Wash., D.C.
- 1986 - Mickelson Gallery, Wash., D.C.
- 1986 - UCLA, Los Angeles, Cal.
- 1987 - National Press Club, Washington., DC
- 1988 - Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
- 1991 - Howard Univ. Retrospective, Wash. D.C.
- 1992 - Cosmos Club, Wash., D.C.
- 1992 - Rockville Art Mansion, Rockville, Md.
- 1992 - Georgetown Univ. Wash., D.C
- 1992 - Hood College, Frederick, Md.
- 1993 - Nat. Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
- 1997 - Goldman Gallery
- 1997 - Jewish Community Center
- 1998 - Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.
- 1999 - Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, Prince Georges County, Md.
- 2001 - Strathmore Hall Arts Center, North Bethesda, Md.
- 2009 - Henry J. Stimson Center(Institute for International Peace and Security) Washington, D.C.
- 2010 - Ratner Museum, Bethesda, Md.
- 2010 - The Washington Arts Club, Washington, D.C.
- 2011 - The Printmakers Gallery, Silver Spring Md.
- 2012 - "American Impressions" contemporary printmaking exchange Shanghai, China
- 2013 - Washington Printmakers Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Group exhibitions
- Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Phila, Pa.
- Corcoran Gallery of Art, Wash., D.C.
- Howard Univ., Wash., D.C.
- Pan American Union, Wash., D.C.
- Library of Congress, Wash., D.C.
- Univ. of Maine, Orono, Me.
- Baltimore Mus. of Art, Baltimore, Md.
- Philadelphia College of Art, Phila., Pa.
- Riverside Mus., New York, N.Y.
- Arts Club, Wash., D.C.
- Rochester Mus. Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, N.Y.
- Garden Pier, Atlantic City, N.J.
- Virginia Intermont College, Bristol, Va.
- Longwood College, Va.
- Rockville Civic Center, Rockville, Md.
- New York World Fair, New York, N.Y.
- U.S. Department of State, Wash., D.C.
- Univ. of Illinois Krammet Mus., Champaign, Ill.
- Woodmere Gallery, Phila., Pa.
- Nat. Collection of Fine Arts, Wash., D.C.
- Smithsonian Institution, Wash., D.C.
- Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
- Virginia Museum, Richmond, Va.
- Sweet Briar College, Sweetbriar, Va.
- Dimock Gallery, Geo. Washington Univ. Wash., D.C.
- Studio Museum, Harlem, New York, N.Y.
- Univ. of Texas, Auburn, Tex.
- Appalachian State Univ. N.C.
- Montgomery College, Montgomery County, Md.
- International Monetary Fund, Wash., D.C.
- Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, Ga.
Further reading
- Who's Who in America
- Who's Who of American Women
- Who's Who in the South and Southwest
- Who's Who in American Art[11]
- Dictionary of International Biography[12]
- Two Thousand Women of Achievement[13]
- Who's Who in American Jewry
- Personalities of the South[14]
- Washington Artists Today, A Directory[15]
- American Biographical Institute[16]
- Who's Who in World Jewry
- The World Who's Who of Women
- Work included in the catalog, American Prints from Wood a traveling exhibition sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution.[17]
- Studio Nuovo
- Sketches can be seen in On Patrol Magazine
- Asher, Asher Oliver (Second World War correspondence, art, and realia)
- Lila Asher
- Lila Asher's Sketches of War
- American Prints from Wood
- https://wtop.com/news/2013/04/slice-of-life-lila-asher-an-active-artist-for-more-than-seven-decades/
- Official Artist Website
References
- ^ a b "LILA ASHER's Obituary (1921 - 2021) The Washington Post". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
- ^ a b c d Rick (2014-09-26). "Rick On Theater: Lila Oliver Asher". Rick On Theater. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
- ^ ProQuest 2502071822.
- ^ a b c "Lila Oliver Asher. American Artist, born 1921". www.artline.com. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
- ProQuest 406662145.
- ^ Staff, Hilltop (1978-01-27). "The Hilltop 1-27-1978". The Hilltop: 1970-80.
- ^ "Lila Oliver Asher – Page 2". DCimPRINT. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
- ^ USO, The. "On Patrol Magazine". The Official USO Blog. Retrieved 2022-11-13.
- ^ "MEN I HAVE MET IN BED: A WARTIME SKETCHBOOK". www.cosmosclub.org. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Asher, Lila Oliver (Second World War correspondence, art, and realia)". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
- ISBN 0-8352-3274-3.
- )
- ^ Kay, Ernest (1969). Two Thousand Women of Achievement (1st ed.). Kay, London.
- OCLC 8360668.
- OCLC 744524117.
- OCLC 57173109.
- ^ Farmer, Jane M. (1975). American Prints from Wood. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 49.