Emma Mendenhall

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Emma Mendenhall (March 15, 1873 – March 25, 1964) was an American painter from Cincinnati. She specialized in landscapes, portraits and still lifes, often in an impressionistic watercolor style. She also worked with oil and pastel. A lifelong Cincinnati resident, she taught at the Oakhurst School and traveled widely, bringing back scenes from Europe and North America.

Emma studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati from 1890 to 1914 with Vincent Nowottny and Frank Duveneck. She also studied in Paris at the Julian Academy with Jules Lefebvre, with William Merritt Chase at the Shinnecock Hills Summer School, and with Charles Woodbury at Ogunquit, Maine. She was the eldest daughter of Charles and Fannie Mendenhall, and the niece of art patron Mrs. Larz Anderson, a connection that helped her social circle. With friend Dixie Selden, she traveled to France, Mexico, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, China, Japan, Morocco, England and the Holy Land, and she spent summers on the New England coast painting with Annie Gooding Sykes.

Her work was shown at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Cincinnati Art Museum; a 1910 exhibition featured works by Dixie Selden and Annie G. Sykes. She was a long-time member of the American Watercolor Society (1921–1964) and belonged to several other art groups, including the National Arts Club, the Washington Water Color Club, the Women’s Art Club of Cincinnati, the Professional Artists of Cincinnati, the 3 Arts Club, and the MacDowell Club.