Floral paintings Part 3.

Round three and the last of my floral posts though I may have enough for one or two more posts. The first painting is the one that started my serial floral posts. I have always liked this one and it has increased in value about tenfold since I bought it. Didn't realize that until I refreshed myself on her work. Her nature/animal paintings bring a premium. That being said, I could not remember the size of it and wasn't sure where to look for it so had to look it up on my web site. It is in storage...

unnamed, Joan Beringer Pripps, 18" x 20", oil:
Joan Beringer Pripps was born on 12 June 1913, in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin the daughter of George and Johanna Wupper Beringer. After studying at the Milwaukee Art Institute and Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, Joan established herself as a successful portrait painter, but was also a doll maker, landscape and still life painter, potter, illustrator, and arts and crafts artist. Beringer began making dolls depicting historic or ethnic costumes when she was seventeen years old, and by 1939 had complete d over 170 dolls. In October 1947 Beringer, conceived the idea of making doll figurines of prominent Wisconsin women as a way to celebrate the upcoming Wisconsin State Centennial. She made 70 of these dolls, some of which are now in the collection of the Wisconsin Historical Museum. During 1948, Beringer lectured on the prominent women of Wisconsin, using her dolls as an aid to illustrate her presentation. She married Norman Pripps, a heavy equipment operator, in 1949 and moved to his land in Springstead, Iron County, Wisconsin. Norman Pripps had a cabin on the land that they converted into "The Studio in the Woods", an art shop and tourist attraction. The Pripps built a small home next to the cabin and lived there for the next 46 years.

unnamed, Aurelia A. Varrone, 14" x 11", watercolor: Aurelia Angela Varrone was born on 11 November 1909. She earned an AB degree from Columbia University in 1934. She received a license to teach Fine Arts in New York secondary schools in 1939 and a BS degree from New York University in 1940. According to the Society of Independent Artists: the exhibition record 1917-1944, she exhibited two watercolors, a floral and a landscape, in 1944. Varrone made several trips to Europe via passenger ships in the 1950s. Her address was the same, 3009 Wallace Avenue, Bronx, NY, on her Columbia University record, SIA exhibition record and the passenger lists from her trips to Europe, so she lived at the address for at least 20 years. Two of the passenger lists noted that she was single, but there did not seem to be a distinction between divorced, widowed and single on the lists. No indications of a marriage have been found for her. She has not been located in any census record, so it is uncertain whether Varrone was her married or maiden name. It is also possible that she was not born in the US.
Aurelia Varrone is mentioned in Arts Magazine in 1953 and 1954 as a member of the Kottler Group, possibly related to the Lynn Kottler Gallery, a well known New York art gallery that was founded in 1949 and seems to have been active into the 1980s. Varrone is listed in Davenports Art Reference and Price Guide and Who Was Who in American Art by Falk.
Varrone died on 1 April 1972 in Mt. Vernon, Westchester County, NY.

unnamed, V. W. Rayness, 12" x 9", oil, 1951: Velma Wallace Rayness was born on 31 October 1896 in Davenport, Iowa, a daughter of William W. and Eva Wallace. William was employed as a "Painter" during the Des Moines, Iowa 1910 census, and a "Painter, House" there in 1920. Velma was employed as an "Artist, School" in 1920. Velma married Gerard M. Rayness on 22 November 1929 in Des Moines, Iowa. Both were students of Charles Atherton Cumming and taught at the Cummings Art School in Des Moines. She was living with her husband and her husband's parents in Ames City, Iowa in 1930, employed as a "teacher, private school". Gerard was employed as a "teacher, public school". Velma and Gerard moved to Ames City permanently in 1932 and opened a studio near Iowa State College. Gerard was also an artist. Andrew Rayness, Gerard's father, was occupied as a "teacher, college" in 1930, which may have influenced Gerard and Velma's choice. Gerard and Velma taught art to adults and children, and Velma continued to teach after Gerard's death. Their studio was open for 23 years. Velma also worked under Grant Wood in the Public Works of Art program in 1933. Both Gerard and Velma were active in the Iowa Art Guild.
Velma is mentioned in Dictionary of Women Artists by Pettys; Who Was Who in American Art by Falk; Davenports Art Reference and Price Guide; Index of Artists by Mallett; several editions of American Art Annual, and Who's Who of American Women by Marquis. She is also mentioned on ArtPrice.com and AskArt.com. Velma published a book called Campus Sketches of Iowa State College in 1949, and a second edition called Campus Sketches of Iowa State University in 1962. Velma also collaborated on Charles Atherton Cumming: Iowa's pioneer artist-educator in 1972 published by the Iowa Art Guild. She also illustrated a book called The Corn is Ripe in 1944. Velma exhibited at the Des Moines Women's Art Club, Iowa State Fairs, the Iowa Guild, Davenport Museum of Art, Souix City Art Center, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Souix City Art Center, Cornell College, and other places. She won numerous prizes for her work as an artist. The Rayness' papers are held by Iowa State University.
Velma Rayness died in April 1977. Gerald Rayness died in 1946. Both died in Ames City, Iowa.