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Edward H. Betts
Summary Highlights
Summary Highlights
As a young boy, Betts committed to pursuing art as a career, beginning formal training at the age of 15 years old.
Beginning at the age of 27 his work was recognized by national museums and included in major invitational exhibitions including the 1947 Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting at Corcoran Gallery of Art, American Painting Today exhibition in 1950 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the 1958 Whitney Annual exhibition Sculpture, Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
When he was 33 years old Betts was included for the first time in Who's Who in American Art (1953) and later in Who's Who in America. That same year the National Academy of Design awarded Edward Betts the Hallgarten Prize for noteworthy painting by an American artists under 35 years of age.
Betts was associated with well-established galleries in New York City beginning in 1947 including Contemporary Arts, where he had his first one-man show at the age of 33; John Heller Gallery, and eventually a 38 year relationship with Midtown Galleries.
Betts was known as a Maine artist, where he resided in summers, and drew inspiration from the Maine coast, especially the areas around Monhegan Island and Ogunquit, Maine.
Betts worked in many media and styles: early lacquers, oils, caseins; abstract acrylics; realistic watercolors; and geometric collages.
Profile
Profile
Edward H. Betts (1920-2008) N.A., A.W.S. was an abstract artist who painted in casein, oil, and lacquer early in his career, then transitioned to acrylic media and collage around 1956. In addition to these abstract paintings, he also painted realistic watercolors.
Edward H. Betts (1920-2008) N.A., A.W.S. was an abstract artist who painted in casein, oil, and lacquer early in his career, then transitioned to acrylic media and collage around 1956. In addition to these abstract paintings, he also painted realistic watercolors.
Edward Howard Betts (also Edward H. Betts or Edward Betts, or Ed Betts) was born in 1920 and raised in Yonkers, just north of New York City. He decided on a career in art at an early age, telling his children that his interest began at the age of five. He later wrote, "I was attracted to the standard painters: Anders Zorn; Sorolla; Sargent; Chase. Then, in 1935 (when I was 15 years old), MOMA had a show of John Marin's, and Marin made me see how to treat something abstractly and yet still be real."
Sidebar: His Father Tried to Discourage a Career in Art
Sidebar: His Father Tried to Discourage a Career in Art
Edward Betts knew at an early age that he wanted to be an artist. His father, Harrison Betts, a respected surgeon, was displeased about his son's interest to become an artist. The elder Betts came up with a plan to discourage that path by sending the the 14-year-old Edward to the Arts Student League. Dr. Betts assumed that harsh criticism by faculty and other students would result in his son changing his mind. Edward was enrolled. His instructor was Reginal Marsh, a major American artist and venerated member of the "Ashcan School." Rather than discouraging Edward, Marsh declared that he "drew like Da Vinci." That was all it took - Edward was on his way.
Fortunately Edward Betts' father lived until 1952 and was able to see his son's early successes: inclusion in the 1947 Corcoran Biennial exhibitions in (when Edward was only 27 years old) and again in 1951; acceptance to join his first gallery representing him at Contemporary Arts in NYC; and selection for the landmark exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art American Painting Today 1950 when Edward was 30 years old. Sadly, his father passed before Edward's first one-man gallery exhibition in New York in 1953.
Source: 2003 interview with Stuart Nadelman for the York County Coast Star [23 January 2003 issue]
He received his bachelor of arts cum laude from Yale University graduating in 1942 and receiving an the Ehrich Prize for Distinguished Art History Student. Betts received a B.A. in art history and his senior thesis was about the 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art that introduced European modern artists to American collectors.
After serving in the U.S. Army as a medic in the glider corp during WWII, he resumed studies at the Art Students League as a full-time student from 1946 to 1948 on the GI Bill, where he continued studies of life drawing with Reginald Marsh, anatomy with George Bridgman, still life painting with Robert Brackman, portraiture with Wayman Adams, and figure painting with Robert Philipp, Jerry Farnsworth, and John Carroll. Betts makes special note of the influence of Harry Sternberg in making him understand the possibilities of abstract art which caused Betts to radically change his paintings to abstraction and an improvisational process.
In 1949 Betts joined the faculty of University of Illinois School of Art and Design at Urbana-Champaign, noted for their prominent post-war art department faculty that included Frank Gallo, Art Sinsabaugh, Lee Chesney, Glenn Bradshaw, William Carlson, Dennis Rowan, and Shozo Sato. Betts earned an MFA in in 1952, and taught from 1950 to 1984 watercolor and advanced painting at the graduate and undergraduate level. [reference: Master Class in Water Media (1993)]
In 1949 Betts married fellow artist Jane Burke who he met at the Art Students League. When Jane Betts died in 1984, he later married his second wife Edis.
Summers in Ogunquit, Maine
Summers in Ogunquit, Maine
After the war Betts began spending summers in the art colony Ogunquit, Maine beginning in 1947 and Maine became the inspiration of most of his paintings the rest of his career. He rented Cottage #4, at the Victorian-era Riverside Hotel (now long demolished), overlooking Perkins Cove for over 40 years, before retiring from teaching and moving full-time to Kennebunk, Maine in 1986.
Betts was active in the Ogunquit Art Association, and the Barn Gallery, from the very beginning of his career. The OAA was founded in 1928 by Charles H. Woodbury, noted artist and educator, who taught summer art classes in Ogunquit beginning in 1898. He was responsible for that town for becoming recognized as an art colony.
Edward Betts first exhibited at the OAA in 1948 and continued annually throughout his life, including a retrospective exhibition in 1978. He served as President of the Ogunquit Art Association in 1951. During this time the OAA was transitioning from the older post-Woodbury generation of artists to an energetic post-war generation of artists actively exhibiting - and socializing together - throughout the summer months, including George Kunkel, John Laurent, Val Thelin, Beverly Hallam, DeWitt Hardy, Bill Preston, Robert Eric Moore, David von Schlegell, and Ned Hergelroth.
Betts was known as a "Maine Artist" because of his work is inspired by Maine landscapes, harbors, and weather. Betts' paintings were included in Maine invitational exhibitions including Maine -- 100 Artists of the 20th Century in 1964; Expressions from Maine in 1975; Maine '75 in 1975; 76 Maine Artists in 1976 at the Maine State Museum; Mainescapes in 1993 at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art.
Big Sur (1971) acrylic on Masonite, 122x91 cm. Edward Betts felt this was his absolute best painting and it hung in his home until he died, when it was bequeathed to the Ogunquit Museum of American Art. It was painted while he was on sabbatical living in Monterey, California and it marked a pronounced change in his work to more colorful, flowing images.
Betts Signature
Betts Signature
Edward Betts consistently signed his painting simply "Betts" throughout his career. The signature was usually in a lower corner of the painting, and in a color that contrasted the surrounding field without being too bold and distracting from the painting. In the "Betts" signature the double-Ts were always crossed with a single horizontal stroke, and the E was made with a single zig-zag stroke.
Note: Edward Betts was no known relation to other Betts-named artists like Harold Harrington Betts (1881-1951), Louis Betts (1873-1961), Judi Betts, Anna Whelan Betts, Ethel Franklin Betts, or William Betts. He was married to the artist Jane Burke Betts (1925-1984).
Edward Betts stands next to his acrylic abstract painting Crosscurrents (1994, 30x44 cm) at an exhibition at River Tree Center for the Arts, Kennebunk, Maine in 2003.
Sidebar: Mid-Century Attitudes to American Artists
Sidebar: Mid-Century Attitudes to American Artists
Betts was part of a large generation of artists that emerged in 1945 following WWII. At the time the important American museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MOMA in New York and other museums in Philadelphia and Boston were biased against American artists, and towards European modern artists, especially following the 1913 Armory Show that was noteworthy for exhibiting European modern artists including Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Van Gogh.
This was illustrated by noted collector Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney who assembled a large collection of 700+ modern paintings by American artists. When she offered to donate 500 of those paintings to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and fund a building, they declined the offer. This caused Whitney to found her own museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. Another illustration of these attitudes is that the Metropolitan Museum of Art failed to purchase any Jackson Pollock painting until after his death in 1955, even though his landmark style had first emerged nearly 10 years earlier.
The Whitney Museum in NYC and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. eventually became the champions of American artists and hosted annual invitational exhibitions of American artists.
Early Recognition
Early Recognition
Museums First Take Notice
Museums First Take Notice
Three Kids (1947), oil on canvas exhibited in the 1947 Corcoran Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings - 46x61 cm.
Following discharge from the U.S. Army after WWII, Betts very quickly found recognition from galleries and museums. He was only 27 years old, and still studying full time at the Art Students League when he was invited to participate in the 1947 Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. This exhibition, informally known as the Corcoran Biennial, included a total of 187 paintings, of which 174 were invited by the jury, and 13 were selected from an open competition that received about 2000 submissions.
Betts' painting Three Kids was exhibited and shows his early style that was more realistic than his later abstracted landscapes, but typical of his very early style.
Summary of all Edward Betts' paintings exhibited in Corcoran Biennials of American Painting:
1947: Three Kids, oil on canvas
1951: Off The Coast, casein
1955: Coastal Landscape, lacquer
1957: Road into the Mountain, lacquer
1959: Crevice, lacquer
First NYC Gallery
First NYC Gallery
Seascape (1953), casein on board exhibited at Contemporary Arts gallery in Betts' first one-man show.
The following year, 1947, Betts was invited to join the gallery Contemporary Arts, Inc. at 12 East 10th Street, New York, NY.
Emily Francis, the founder of the gallery, built her gallery's reputation by identifying new, undiscovered artists. In the NY Times on February 15,1966 in an obituary about Francis they wrote:
"She provided space for the first one-man shows of Mark Tobey, Mark Rothko, Earl Kerkam, Lawrence Lebduska, Milton Avery, Louis Bosa, Edward Betts, John Corbino, Sasha Kolinand , John Kane."
In 1948 Betts began exhibiting in group exhibitions at Contemporary Arts, but later in January-Feb. 1953, at the age of 33 years old, Betts had his first one-man show there.
At the Met
At the Met
Coastal (1950) encaustic painting included in American Painting Today 1950 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 56x71 cm.
In 1950 the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who formerly focused on European modern artists, finally succumbed to pressure and decided to have a juried exhibition solely by American painters. This landmark show was entitled American Painting Today 1950.
Edward Betts, now aged 30 years old, was included in the exhibition with his painting entitled Coastal. Click on this link to see the exhibition catalog: American Painting Today 1950.
Established Reputation
Established Reputation
One-Man Shows
One-Man Shows
Hilltop Town (1956) lacquer painting exhibited at Betts one-man show in 1956 at John Heller Gallery in New York City and in 1957 at Feingarten Gallery in Chicago.
As mentioned above, Betts had his first one-man show at Contemporary Arts, Inc. gallery in 1953, followed by a second show in 1955. Once he received recognition he moved to the John Heller Gallery in New York City where he had one-man shows in 1954, 1956 and 1959. At the same time there were one-man shows in other cities, notably at Newman Brown Gallery, Chicago in 1954; Feingarten Gallery, Chicago in 1956 and 1957.
New York City galleries that represented Betts:
1948 - 1955, Contemporary Arts, New York, NY.
1954 - 1959, John Heller Gallery, New York, NY.
1960 - 1995, Midtown Galleries, New York, NY.
Who's Who in American Art
Who's Who in American Art
The first entry for Edward Betts in 1953 in Who's Who in American Art.
After the success of his first one-man show, and his inclusion in invitational museum exhibitions, Edward Betts was first included in the publication Who's Who in American Art in 1953.
Later in his career he was included in Who's Who in America, the publication that began in 1899 and listed over 8000 of the most important people is the U.S.
New Talent Issue of Art In America Magazine
New Talent Issue of Art In America Magazine
Frozen Landscape (1954) lacquer painting was one of three Betts paintings reproduced the New Talent in the U.S.A. issue of Art In America magazine. 102x71 cm.
Edward Betts was selected for inclusion in the February 1955 New Talent in the U.S.A. issue of Art In America magazine. This was the magazine's second issue devoted to young lesser-known artists in America.
The judges selected 36 artists for inclusion which were grouped geographically. Betts, who had moved to teach in Illinois, was included in the Great Lakes section of the issue.
Three of Betts' paintings were illustrated in the issue, along with a profile, The paintings illustrated were Sun And Sea (casein, 1953), Lighthouse (lacquer, 1953), and Frozen Landscape (lacquer, 1954). These were reproduced in black-and-white, as was the entire issue. The painting Frozen Landscape was later reproduced in color in American Artist magazine.
Whitney Annual
Whitney Annual
Northern Spaces (1957) lacquer painting on plywood exhibited in the Whitney Museum of American Art 1958 annual exhibition. 181x121cm.
The Whitney Museum of American Art was one of the first museums to focus an American art and began holding annual invitational exhibitions in 1932. This exhibition was informally known as the Whitney Annual, and predated the current Whitney Biennial exhibitions which started in 1973.
Edward Betts' painting Northern Spaces was selected for their 1958 Annual Exhibition: Sculpture, Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings.
Click on this link to see the exhibition catalog: Annual Exhibition of Sculpture, Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings November 19, 1958 to January 4, 1959.
National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
Face of the Cliff (1955) casein painting donated to National Academy of Design upon acceptance as an academician in 1961. 101x71 cm,
The National Academy of Design was founded in 1825, modeled after the Royal Academy of the Arts in London, is the oldest artist-led organization in the USA, "to promote the fine arts in America through instruction and exhibition."
In 1958, at the age of 38 years old, Edward Betts was nominated by the National Academy of Design to join as an Associate. He was later admitted as a full Academician in 1961.
Membership was limited to 450 (now 500) American living artists and architects, who are elected by their peers on the basis of recognized excellence. Betts' nomination was proposed by Ogden Minton Pleissner (1905 –1983), and seconded by J. Scott Williams (1877 – 1976), and voted on by Isabel Bishop (1902 – 1988) , Sidney Laufman (1891 – 1985), Leon Kroll (1884 - 1974), Dean Cornwell (1892 –1960) , and Morton Roberts (1927 - 1964 ).
Every academician gave a work of theirs to the academy upon admission, in addition to a portrait, usually a self-portrait.
Throughout the years Edward Betts exhibited at annual exhibitions at the National Academy, and was awarded prizes for paintings including:
1952: Rocky Landscape, 2nd Hallgarten Prize
1954: Night Mood, 2nd Altman Landscape Prize
1957: Coastal Landscape, 1st Altman Landscape Prize
1959: Snowy Hillside,1st Altman Landscape Prize
1966: Spanish Coast, 1st Altman Landscape Prize
In addition to exhibiting in the National Academy annual exhibitions, he also served on their selection and awards juries at the Academy in 1970, 1972, 1974, and 1978.
Detailed close-up photographs of Face of the Cliff showing the vivid colors of the lacquer paint applied with a palette knife.
Joins Midtown Galleries
Joins Midtown Galleries
Coast Wind (1960) lacquer painting on Masonite, exhibited in 1961 at Edward Betts first one-man exhibition at Midtown Galleries. 90x115 cm.
Summerscape II on the invitation to Edward Betts' one-man exhibition in 1976 at Midtown Galleries, 11 East 57th Street, New York, NY.
Edward Betts was invited to join Midtown Galleries in 1960.
Midtown Galleries was founded in 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, by Alan D. Gruskin (1904-1970) to promote only American artists. At the time there was a bias towards European artists, especially following the 1913 Armory Show that introduced European modern artists.
Midtown Galleries first opened at 559 Fifth Avenue at 46th Street in New York City, then later moved uptown to 17 East 57th Street, finally they moved next door to 11 East 57th Street. Later Midtown Galleries was acquired by John Whitney Payson in 1985 and renamed Midtown-Payson Galleries and were located at 745 Fifth Avenue, at 57th Street.
At Midtown Galleries Betts had one-man shows in 1961, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1982, and 1989. And he participated in many group shows, including the Paintings of Maine by Midtown's Maine Artists in 1964 and 1966. Midtown Galleries also represented noted artists Isabel Bishop, William Palmer, Paul Cadmus, William Thon, Stephen Etnier, Hans Moller, and several others.
Betts stayed with Midtown Galleries until they closed in 1995.
Discovers Acrylic Media
Discovers Acrylic Media
Northeaster Monhegan (1964) mixed media collage of paper, Japanses rice paper in acrylic paint. 74x120 cm.
Edward Betts abstract painting style changed to a more fluid, colorful style when he changed to using acrylic paint.
He was first introduced to the water-based acrylic media by the artist Beverly Hallam in 1956 at a demonstration at the Barn Gallery in Ogunquit, Maine. Betts wrote in 1971 about the revelation in the catalog for a retrospective exhibition for Hallam at the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Massachusetts:
"[Hallam's] demonstration was something of an electrifying experience for me. She was introducing a new painting medium called polyvinyl-acetate, a name I suspected would never catch on. She was lavish in her use of it, pouring great milky pools of it over Masonite panels, funneling off excess polymer medium that was almost as new to her as it was to us. That enthusiasm was infectious, as it would be to many subsequent audiences, and I left the gallery determined to find out more for myself about the new polymer paints."
[source: Beverly Hallam: An Odyssey in Art (1998) hardcover by Carl Little]
This new paint eventually became known as simply acrylic paint, and because it was water based, was classified as watercolor in the art world, though it was nothing like the transparent watercolors such as those sold by Windsor-Newton.
Betts painted with Liquitex brand acrylic paint and his studio was littered with 16 ounce jars.
Example of Edward Betts mature style once he fully transitioned to acrylic paint media.
Other Styles and Media
Other Styles and Media
Realistic Watercolors
Realistic Watercolors
Edward Betts was best known for the abstract opaque media paintings (see above) but he also painted realistic transparent watercolors throughout his career. He taught watercolor at the university level for 38 years, and conducted numerous workshops for serious artists around the country.
He wrote that his New York gallery (Midtown Galleries) did not want to exhibit his realistic watercolors because it would confuse their loyal collector clients that had grown to expect bold abstract paintings. He chose to sell his watercolors through galleries in Maine like the Barn Gallery in Ogunquit, Maine.
American Watercolor Society
American Watercolor Society
In 1957 Betts became a member of the American Watercolor Society, where he was a Dolphin Fellow which was established to encourage artists to create more award-winning paintings and for the advancement of the art of watercolor.
In 1950, at the age of 30 years old, he won the Zabriskie Purchase Prize from the AWS for a casein painting Gaspé Shore. He participated in annual exhibitions beginning in 1950, where he won various prizes including:
1950: Gaspé Shore. Zabriskie Purchase Prize
1952: Quarry, Silver Medal
1959: Stone Valley, Silver Medal
1966: Oarweed Cove, Remmy Memorial Award
Betts also repeatedly served on the juries of the annual invitational exhibitions.
Collage
Collage
Betts used collage - mixing paper, or printed images, or even sand - into his paintings mixed with acrylic or lacquer. But in later years he produced large series of geometric collage paintings. Many were small vertical rectangles around 20x30 cm, but several were quite large up to 40x75 cm.
Go to Page 2: Chronology
Source materials and references for the content on this site can be found on these pages: Publications and References.
For further information about Edward Betts, or to sell a painting by Edward Betts, contact his son, John Betts at jhbnyc@aol.com.
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