Background

George Gardner Symons was born in 1865 in Chicago, Illinois, in 1865 of Jewish descent.

Education

After studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, George Symons was a student in Munich, London, and Paris.

Career

George Symons returned from Europe to the United States in 1909 and took up his residence in Brooklyn, New York. He spent most of his life in New York but made frequent sketching trips to the Berkshire hills, the valley of the Deerfield River, Gloucester, Massachussets, Cornwall, England, to various parts of Europe, whither he went almost every year to paint, and to southern California.

In the latter part of his life he did much of his work at his country home in Colrain, Massachussets.

At the inaugural exhibition of the Toledo Museum of Art, 1912, he exhibited "Rock-ribbed Hills of New England" and "Snow-clad Fields in Morning Light"; at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1913, "Breaking of the Winter Ice" and "November, Dachau, Germany"; and at the sixth annual exhibition of the Concord Art Association, Concord, Massachussets, "Morning Light. "

He died in Hillside, New Jersey, at the home of a brother-in-law.

His "Snow Clouds" is in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, "The Winter Sun" in the Art Institute of Chicago. There are other examples of his work in art museums in Los Angeles, St. Louis, Toledo, Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, and in numerous other cities throughout the country.

"Opalescent River, " in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, a typical Symons painting, shows bright sunlight shining on the snow and floating ice in the river, with groups of trees and farm buildings beyond, and hills in the distance.

Achievements

• George Symons became famous for winning the Carnegie prize of the National Academy of Design in 1909 for his "Opalescent River" and in 1911 became an Academician. In 1912 the National Arts Club conferred on him a gold medal and a prize of $1000 for his painting of "The Sun's Glow and Rising Moon. " He was awarded a bronze medal at the International Exposition, Buenos Aires, 1910; the third W. A. Clarke prize and Corcoran bronze medal, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C. , 1912; and the Saltus medal for merit, National Academy of Design, 1913.

Works

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  • Exhibition of Paintings by George Gardner Symons

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  • George Gardner Symons (1862-1930) exhibition: November 19th to December 17th, 1989

    (Catalog for exhibition held, November 19th to December 17...)

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  • George Gardner Symons (1862-1930).

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Views

George Symons specialized in winter landscapes. His pictures, which have been praised for their strength and originality, are characterized as well by great sincerity and truth, and by a warm sympathy of imagination.

Membership

Symons was a member of numerous clubs and societies, such as the National Arts Club of artists, both in the United States and abroad.

Connections

In 1899 George Gardner Symons was married to Sarah Trevorrow.

Sister :

Katherine Marie Simon Dawson

1869–1943

Sister :

Louise (Anna Louise) Simon

1862–1943

wife :

Sarah Trevorrow Symons

1876–1971

mother :

Ann Elizabeth Meyer Simon

1842–1892

Brother :

Henry E Simon

1867–1957

Brother :

Robert M Simon

1866–1943

Father :

Simon Simon

1840–1910

References

• The Hisotry & Ideals of American Art
• Who's Who in America Vol. 15 1928-1929
• Des Moines Art Center: Selected paintings, sculptures, and works on paper