Fred Messersmith, View of the Halifax, casein on artist board, 27.5 by 35.5 inches. Signed lower right.
Fred Messersmith was chairman of the art department at West Virginia Wesleyan College for ten years before coming to DeLand as chairman of the art department at Stetson University in 1959. In his 30-year career at Stetson he taught watercolor painting, art history, calligraph, and interior design. Messersmith spent his summers on Cape Cod from 1969 to 2008, serving as director and artist in residence of the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association until his death in 2008.
Fred Messersmith, Shore Birds, casein on rice paper, 21.75 by 27.5 inches. Sighed lower right.
Born: 1927, Sharon, Pennsylvania. Died: March 23, 2009, DeLand. Education: Ohio Wesleyan University, bachelor, and master’s degrees in art. Membership: American Watercolor Society; Florida Watercolor Society; Florida Artist Group, president, 1964, 1965. Exhibits: Atlanta Art Association, 6th Annual, Painting of the Year, 1960, first prize watercolor for Shore Birds; Manatee County Art League, December 1960; Florida Artist Group, 12th Annual Circuited Exhibition, 1961-62, watercolor, Down to the Sea; Florida Artist Group, Thirteenth Annual Circuited Exhibition, 1962-63, an oil, The Meeting; Oglebay Institute, 1st prize; Clarksburg Art Center; Florida Artist Group, 14th Annual Exhibition, 1963-1964 at Tampa Art Institute, watercolor, Tombs of Nocera-Pompeii; Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, March 1969, honorable mention; Allied Artists of West Virginia.
