Nina Howell Starr
Nina Howell Starr | |
---|---|
Born | Cornelia Margaret Howell 1903 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
Died | May 14, 2000 Hamden, Connecticut, U.S. |
Education | Wellesley College, Barnard College, Bennington College, University of Florida |
Known for | Art history, photography, art dealer |
Nina Howell Starr (1903–2000) was an American photographer, art historian, and art dealer.[1] She is known for her influence in the career of artist Minnie Evans, and her photo-documentation of American roadside attractions and folk art culture.[2][3]
Early life and education
She was born Cornelia Margaret Howell in 1903 in Newark, New Jersey.[1][4] Her sister was Jane Howell Lovejoy, former president of the Detroit Board of Education and a former governor of Wayne State University.[5]
Starr briefly attended Wellesley College, and she graduated in 1926 from Barnard College.[1] The summer after graduation, she married professor Nathan Comfort Starr (1896–1981), he specialized in Arthurian literature and Arthurian legends.[1][6] Her sister-in-law was artist Ruth Starr Rose.[7] Nathan and Nina had four children together, one son and three daughters.[8][9] In the 1930s, she continued her studies and took architecture courses at Bennington College in Vermont.[6]
The couple initially settled down in Cambridge, Massachusetts for her husband's academic career, but they later moved to Williamstown, Massachusetts; Annapolis, Maryland; Winter Park, Florida; Gainesville, Florida; New York City; and Hamden, Connecticut.[6] In 1952–1953, Nathan Comfort Starr was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan and Nina joined him in the travels.[7]
In 1963, at the age of 60 she received her MFA degree in photography from the University of Florida, studying under Van Deren Coke and Jerry Uelsmann.[1][6]
Career
Starr was opinionated and advocated for modern design, racial equality, etiquette, the English language, folk art, women's rights, and photography, amongst other things.[6] She would often write to newspapers to express her ideas. She became interested in photography at the age of 53.[6]
In 1962, Starr had heard of
and she helped publish the related exhibition catalogue.Starr's photography became known in the 1970s when she was in her 70s, while living in New York City.[13]
Death
She died on May 14, 2000, at the age of 97, in her home in Hamden, Connecticut.[8] Her funeral services were at St. James' Episcopal Church in Manhattan.[8]
In 2015, she had a posthumous solo exhibition, The New Yorker Project at Institute 193 in New York City.[6]
Publications
- Starr, Nina Howell (March 22, 1953). "Letters to the Times, Use of Films Abroad; Documentary Pictures to Portray American Scene Recommended". The New York Times. p. 162. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
- Starr, Nina Howell (June 13, 1961). "Letters to the Times, Duty to Fight Segregation". The New York Times. p. 34. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
- Starr, Nina Howell (Summer 1969). "The Lost World of Minnie Evans". The Bennington Review. 111 (2): 41.
- Starr, Nina Howell (September 1, 1969). "Letters". Newsweek.
- Starr, Nina Howell (1975). Minnie Evans (exhibition catalogue). Whitney Museum of American Art.
- Starr, Nina Howell (Winter 1994). "Minne Evans and Me". Folk Art. 19 (4): 52–60 – via issuu.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e "Biographical Note from A Finding Aid to the Nina Howell Starr papers, 1933–1996". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
- ^ Starr, Nina Howell (Winter 1994). "Minnie Evans and Me". Issuu. Folk Art, volume 19, number 4. pp. 52–60. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
- ^ Lampe, Lilly (November 2, 2015). "We Are Unable to Use the Enclosed Material". The Paris Review. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Exhibitions: Nina Howell Starr". Institute 193. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
- ^ ISBN 9780060819224.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
- ^ "Obituary; Nathan C. Starr, 84, former Williams dean". The Transcript of North Adams, Massachusetts. February 1, 1981. p. 12. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
- ^ ISBN 9780810391772.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
- ISBN 9781135956158.
- ^ "A Finding Aid to the Nina Howell Starr papers, 1933–1996". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
External links
- Nina Howell Starr papers, 1933–1996, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
- Nina Howell Starr in the Barnard Digital Collection from Barnard College