Faye Henthorne. Clearwater Beach, 1944. Oil on artists board, 18 by 24 inches. Signed lower right Faye Henthorne, 44.
Here is a particularly poignant portrait of two young people, likely brother and sister, with sad, downcast faces, against a background of others at play on the beach. Given the time, 1944, one asks… why so sad?
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Faye Henthorne taught art at the Columbus School for Girls before moving to Tarpon Springs in 1939 and three years later, to Clearwater. A leader in Pinellas County art activities, Henthorne was director of the Clearwater Art Group and head instructor at the Clearwater Museum School of Art until the building was torn down in 1952. She then taught from her home. Henthorne was a charter member of the Florida Artist Group and served as an officer in the Florida Federation of Art. Born: 1887, Columbus, Ohio. Died: 1978, Columbus, Ohio. Education: Ohio State University; Columbus Art School, Columbus, Ohio; with Ralph Pearson, NYC; with Ernest Thurne, Gloucester, Massachusetts; Art Students League, NYC with Kuniyoshi; with Alice Schille, Columbus, Ohio. Membership: Clearwater Art Museum; Florida Federation of Art; Florida Gulf Coast Artists Group; Florida Artists Group; Clearwater Art Group, Inc. president, 1959; Creative Arts Group of Tampa Bay Area; Art League of Manatee County, 1953-56. Exhibits: Florida Federation of Art, Circuited Exhibition,1941-42, Clearwater Art Museum, Sponge Boats; Florida Federation of Art, December 1941, Tampa; Clearwater Art Museum, 8th Annual Members Exhibit, February 1942, Fisherman’s Cottage, Shady Tree, Sea and Rocks; Florida Federation of Art, annual circuit, outstanding art work by artists, Jacksonville, 1944, sponsored by Arts Exhibition Club and Art Department of Woman’s Club, oil, Wild Lupine; Clearwater Art Museum, Gulf Coast Art Group 4th Annual Exhibit, toured the state, 1944-1945; Florida Gulf Coast Artists Group, nationwide circuit, Miami to Wisconsin, Newark, San Francisco, Syracuse, 1944; Clearwater Art Museum, 10th Annual Exhibit, March 1944, Presidents Prize, Zinnias; Florida Gulf Coast Group, 4th Annual Exhibition, nationwide circuit, July 1945-May 1946, Studio; Clearwater Art Museum, 11th Annual Exhibit, February 1945, Presidents Third Prize, Floral; Florida Federation of Art, 19th Annual, December 1945, Miami Beach Floral; Clearwater Art Museum, best picture, 1944, 2nd prize, 1945; Art Club of St. Petersburg, January 1946, one man show; Clearwater Art Museum, May 1946; Art Club of St. Petersburg, January 1946, one-man exhibit; Florida State Fair, Tampa, February 1946, award; Florida Gulf Coast Group, Clearwater Art Museum, 5th Annual, nationwide circuit, July 1946-May 1947, oil, Calendulas; Florida Federation of Art, 21st Annual traveling exhibit, December 1947-1948, Oratorical Interlude; Florida Gulf Coast Group, Clearwater Art Museum, 6th Annual, nationwide circuit, July 1947-May 1948, oil, Metropolitan Moment; 28th Annual Pinellas County Fair, January 1948, 1st prizes, flowers in oil, portrait in oil and still life in oil; Clearwater Art Museum, 15th Annual Member Exhibit, March 1949, 2nd President’s Prize, abstract in oil, Marine Harmony; Florida Federation of Art, 1949, honorable mention, still life in any medium, Zinnias In A Green Pitcher; Florida Gulf Coast Group, sponsorship, Clearwater Art Museum, 7th Annual nationwide circuit, July 1948 to May 1949, oil, Three Lilies; Florida Gulf Coast Group, 8th Annual Exhibition, Clearwater Art Museum, on nationwide circuit, July 1949 to May 1950, oil, Marine Harmony; Clearwater Art Group Gallery, April 1951, one man show; St. Petersburg Junior College, Backstage Gallery, November 1951; Manatee County Art League, November 1954, a casein, Still Life with Newspaper; Clearwater Art Group, Contemporary Arts Gallery, Pinellas Park, 1954; Florida Artist Group, 6th Annual Circuit, Palm Beach Art League, April 1955, Brown Pitcher; Art League of Manatee County, All Members Exhibit, October 1955, 209 Ninth St. W. Bradenton, oil, Neat Studio; Clearwater Art Group, 7th Annual Juried Show, Clearwater Chamber of Commerce, March 1956, award, The Bather; Florida State Fair, Fine Arts Exhibit, January 29-February 9, 1957, Waiting for the Artist; Clearwater Art Group, 8th Annual Member’s Exhibit, Gulf Coast Art Center, March 1957, oil, Petunias; Manatee County Art Center, by invitation, December 1957; Clearwater Art Group, 10th Annual, February 1959, 3rd prize, Frostbitten; Contemporary Arts Gallery, 2nd Annual Japanese Garden Fete, June 1959; Florida Federation of Art 33rd Annual Exhibition, Tampa, November 1959, an oil, Floral; Governor’s All Florida Art Show, Ringling Museum, January 9-February 2, 1960, oil, Bouquet; Florida State Fair, Tampa, exhibited between, 1956-1962; Creative Arts Group of the Tampa Bay Area, New Gallery, Bath Club, North Redington Beach, January 1961; Creative Arts Group of Tampa Bay Area, Drawing and Print Competition, January 1961, Contemporary Arts Gallery, Pinellas Park; Art Association of Tarpon Springs, at Universalist Church, one man exhibit, January 1966, including oil paintings, Blue Still Life, Fall Flowers, Yellow Lilies, Quiet Water, Rocks, Mountain Peaks, In the Garden, up Popped the Devil and Natural Bridge; Escarosa Humanities Center, Pensacola, April 1969, one-man exhibit of 24 oil paintings.
