Biography

Oct 1, 1916 to June 8, 2014

A recognized American colorist painter, Ouida developed a unique and individual style that was a combination of her visual mental imagery intertwined with reality. She favored sketching and painting from life, avoiding photographs, and leaned heavily on her photographic memory, her superb sense of color and composition, and her exceptional brush strokes. Her painting style has been described as somewhere between post-Impressionist and French modern. She is equally known for her exotic and imaginative landscapes, beautiful flowers, stylized ladies in their hats or bathtubs, whimsical children, fantasy scenes, and her portraits that reflect the person in their natural surroundings, almost always with their pets. Exhibiting from the 1950 to 1994, Ouida created about 40 paintings and drawings a year and presented a one-woman show every two years. Her portraits and ink drawings became almost as popular as her paintings, which can be found in private collections throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.

Early Life

Ouida Margaret Romanoff was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 1, 1916. Around five years old she began drawing; and by her own account, Ouida knew that she wanted to be an artist at an early age. Besides her artistic abilities, she was also active and athletic, excelling in gymnastics and horseback riding. She attended the School at the Art Institute of Chicago, but in 1941when her mother became ill she moved to West Palm Beach, Florida. During the war her secretarial skills landed her a job working for the US Army Air Corps at Morrison Field, riding her bicycle back and forth to work. After years of independent courses in anatomy, advanced art, and life drawing, in 1948 Ouida decided to devote all her time and energy to her art.

The Young Artist

As early as 1947, Ouida had the distinction of being represented in the Contemporary Arts Shows at the Society for the Four Arts; and over the next ten years, at the annual shows at the Norton Gallery of Art, the Florida Artists Group traveling show, the Artist Guild Annual, and the Florida Sculptors Association. While still in art school she met commercial artist Harold George (1915 – 1983), whom she married on April 23, 1949. Ouida studied at the Norton Galley & School of Art in West Palm Beach, first in clay with artist Ann Norton, and later with sculptor Jose de Creft, effectively utilizing his direct sculpture teaching method in both marble and wood. She also studied sculpture at “La Esmeralda,” The National School of Painting & Sculpture in Mexico City.

Finally in 1951, her intense love of color and light prompted her to concentrate all her energy on her painting. Over the years she was encouraged by her many friends and mentors in the art world including: Russian Surrealist Painter, Pavel Tchelitchew; American artist and legendary art dealer Betty Parsons; and Palm Beach pioneer and art patron Alice DeLamar.

Ouida George with Springer Spaniels and Paintings

Commercial Success

Ouida’s real success began in the mid-1950s, when collectors began to recognize her talent, and she started to show at galleries around the U.S. In 1950 she signed with Alice DeLamar’s Worth Avenue Gallery, and in January of 1956 had her first one-woman show at the Worth Avenue Gallery. Her first solo exhibition consisted of paintings of the people, flowers, and landscapes of the French Caribbean islands of Martinique & Guadeloupe and was a completely successful sold-out show. In 1959 she moved across the street to join the newly opened Palm Beach Galleries, under the direction of George Vigouroux, Jr. The gallery hosted crowded opening night parties where elegant Palm Beacher’s met and mingled and gave their support to the artists they admired. Ouida stayed at Palm Beach Galleries from their inception until 1972.

Then, in 1973 she joined with a group of artists and moved to the newly opened James Hunt Barker Galleries. Ouida became the art consultant for Barker’s gallery arranging exhibitions and receptions for more than 20 years. Victor Hammer first saw her work in the early 60’s while visiting Palm Beach and signed her for his gallery in New York, where she exhibited until Hammer’s death in 1985. She also exhibited and maintained long-term relationships with galleries in Los Angeles, Washington DC, Nantucket, and Dallas.

Ouida maintained her position as an integral part of the Palm Beach art scene offering a new one-woman show every two years until 1994. In addition to exhibiting her paintings in Palm Beach, she offered private lessons to a large and varied selection of students. On more than one occasion her group classes would culminate with a gala annual show. She was also active in the Palm Beach community, contributing her drawings to decorate invitations for some of Palm Beach’s most prestigious charity events. She also illustrated two books: A Chinese Cookbook for the Heart Ball of 1972; and a book on children’s etiquette, “The Compleat Child” by Joan Javits, that was featured in The Lady’s Home Journal in 1966. In addition to her busy schedule painting, traveling, teaching art, consulting for the gallery, and her charity work, Ouida’s other notable activities in Palm Beach included her legendary annual New Year’s Day parties, and her hobby of breeding pure bred English Springer spaniels for the show ring, sometimes having as many as nine puppies in her home studio at one time.

“What do we wish to know most about an artist – are we interested in schooling, technique, experience, notable exhibitions or famous collectors? I think that we are more concerned with style; and that generally speaking an artist’s style is a faithful copy of his or her mind. Style in painting is a power over materials by which conceptions or sentiments are conveyed. Ouida’s well-poised style takes the simplest route through the esthetic use of space, line, and color. Her spirited compositions sing lightly and enjoyably in one of those miracles in which human emotion triumphs over technique, canvas and brush.”

—Harold George, October 2, 1970

The Mature Artist

Ouida believed her finest works were her landscape paintings influenced by her journeys to far-away places. Her passion for the exotic sparked her enthusiasm to travel around the world many times – seeking places that offered remote and colorful landscapes with authentic, traditional costumes. With her vivid imagination and intense love of color her paintings and drawings document many of the extraordinary things she observed in her travels: the people, flower markets, animals and countryside. Inspired by her travels, she would return back home to her West Palm Beach studio to paint. Ouida’s paintings themselves have traveled far; and can be found in private collections around the world. Among the long list of her collectors are: the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, Mrs. Alexander Crail Speyer, Mrs. Ethel Kennedy, Mrs. Rose Sachs, Mr. & Mrs. Wolcott Blair. Her collectors also included Palm Beach artists: Orville Bulman, Channing Hare, and Gertrude Schweitzer.

Later Years

From 1991 until 2013, Ouida enjoyed good health and well-being and continued to travel and paint. Over the following 22 years her travels to remote and exotic places with her long-time friend and companion Dr. Leo Figiel extended to Africa, South America, India, Indonesia, and New Zealand. She also provided a few select galleries with her work, in addition to completing about six private commissions a year for her patrons, and advising and inspiring a few private art students in her West Palm Beach studio. In 2009 The King Library at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach honored her with a retrospective show of her work. On June 8th, 2014 Ouida died peacefully at her home in Palm Beach Gardens at the age of 97. Her energy, style and enthusiasm will be missed by all who knew her.

Edyne Gordon, Ouida’s daughter, has compiled the various works shown in this retrospective website as examples of the diversity and proficiency of Ouida’s oeuvre by presenting over 300 examples of paintings, pastels, sculpture, drawings and illustrations spanning Ouida’s 65-year career.