George Ames Aldrich

Dutch Village (Rijsoord)
c. 1910
Oil on Canvas
24 x 30

George Ames Aldrich (1872-1941)

One of the best-known Indiana painters of the 20th century, George Ames Aldrich became internationally famous for his richly painted Impressionist landscapes, not of Indiana, but of Brittany, Normandy and the Netherlands. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Aldrich studied at the Art Students League in New York and subsequently in Paris at the Academie Colarossi and Academie Julien. Professional acclaim quickly during his career. He found success as an illustrator for both Punch magazine and The London Times while living in London for several year during the 1890s. During the same decade, while based in Dieppe, northern France, he developed what became his signature style and completed many of his most popular paintings. During the second decade of the 20th century, Aldrich returned to the U.S., moved to Chicago where he became involved with the South Bend, Indiana art scene.

The Indiana dune country, at the southern end of Lake Michigan, was a popular subject for Chicago’s painters. Aldrich won four prizes for his works at the Hoosier Salon exhibits which took place in Chicago, beginning in 1923. He exhibited regularly at the Art Institute of Chicago, and was a member of the Chicago Galleries Association, the Hoosier Salon, and the Chicago Society of Painters and Sculptors. In 1924, he won an architectural club traveling scholarship and traveled to Europe once again to paint in England, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France. His work is represented today in many museums, private and corporate collections throughout the world including the Union League of Chicago and the War Mothers Building in Washington DC, and the Art Institute of Chicago.