Martha Nessler Hayden

Martha Nessler Hayden (born 1936)[1] is an American artist, known for Modernist landscape painting and artist books.[1][2] Hayden lives and works in Sharon, Wisconsin, in a historic Victorian home.[3][4][5]

Martha Nessler Hayden
Born
Martha Nessler

1936 (age 84–85)
Evanston, Illinois, US
NationalityUnited States of America
Other namesMartha N. Hayden, Martha Hayden
Alma materArt Institute of Chicago

She has produced art in many mediums including oil paint, acrylic paint, watercolor, gouache, lithography, fabric art, ceramics and enameling. Over the years, she has also maintained studios in New York City in Astoria (1995–2001) and on the Lower East Side (2001–2017).

Early life and education
Martha Hayden at work (May 2019)

Martha Nessler was born 1936 and she grew up in Evanston, Illinois. The daughter of librarian Minerva Kraft Nessler and Brazilian-born cheese equipment industrial designer Aldo Edward Nessler.[6][7][8] Her maternal grandfather was Charles Herbert Kraft, one of the brothers who founded Kraft Cheese Company.[7] She attended Evanston High School, which she graduated from in 1953.

Hayden attended Bradley University for two years (1953–1955), majoring in the Ceramic Arts before transferring to the Art Institute of Chicago where she majored in to Drawing-Painting-Illustration (DPI), and received her BFA degree in 1961.[1][9][10] At the Art Institute of Chicago, she studied with Paul Wieghardt and Isabol MacKinnon.

Following graduation from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she used a Byron Lathrop Foreign Traveling Fellowship to study at Schule des Sehens (“School of Seeing”) at the International Summer Academy for Visual Arts in Salzburg, Austria, with Oskar Kokoschka in 1962.[11][1] Following her studies with Kokoschka, she continued to travel and paint in Europe.

Career

She has traveled to Mexico to paint on multiple occasions and during these trips, she has spent time in San Miguel de Allende, the Yucatán Peninsula, and Morelia.[1] A significant series of works done during the 1970s are her landscapes from Mexico. These were painted outside, on location, in rural Mexico during the winters of 1970-71 and 1971–72. These paintings stand out from other landscapes done by Martha because the Mexican sky is typically a stronger shade of blue than that seen in Wisconsin, and the vegetation was also much different. Donald Key, Art Critic for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, described these works in. the 1970s as "profuse in color and immediately responsive to atmospheres and objects."[12]

In the 1970s she eventually settled down in Sharon, Wisconsin.[13] James Auer, Milwaukee Journal Art Editor, in his 1972 review of her exhibit at Bradley Galleries in Milwaukee, described her as the "Philip Pearlstein of kraft paper, achieving a remarkable plasticity and sensuality with the simplest of subject matter"[14]

During the 1980s, Martha Hayden painted the world that surrounded her in rural Wisconsin. Her largest work was created in 1985, a mural portraying the history of Beloit, Wisconsin, installed on the walls of Beloit City Hall. The City of Beloit commissioned this work from Martha Hayden in 1983.[15][13]

Two of her most unusual works were on display at the U.S Smithsonian Museum in 1988. They are two wooden eggs on which scenes of the Wisconsin farmland and Wisconsin lakes are painted. Martha Hayden was one of 200 American Artists chosen to paint these special eggs which were also on view during the White House Easter Egg Roll.[16]

One of the oil paintings that Martha created in 1989 is of bosc pears in a rustic setting, this painting was purchased by the Nebraska State Art Collection.[17]

The Naperville Art League chose in 1990, Martha Hayden's painting of a giant flower for Best of Show Award at the Riverwalk Art Festival.[18][19]

In 2001, she was included in the exhibition: "11 Annual Remarkable Women Show." held in Peltz Gallery in Milwaukee.[20][21]

Hayden has also created a series of artist books, and one of her books is in the Harvard University Fine Arts Library collections.[22][23] Her artwork is in various museum collections including the Chazen Museum of Art (previously known as Elvehjem Art Center),[24] Salzburg Museum,[24] São Paulo Museum of Art,[24] Art Institute of Chicago,[24] among others.

Further reading
  • Heft, Caren; Pepich, Bruce (1990). For the Birds: Artists Examine Aviary Abodes: Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts. Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts. Racine, Wisconsin: Wustum Museum Art Association. OCLC 29729863.
  • Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors / Wisconsin Artists in All Media Centennial Exhibition (art catalogue). Wisconsin Art History Series. Sophia Amm (artist), Rise Anderson (artist), Marilyn Annin (artist), Kathy Armstrong (artist), Steve Ballard (artist), Leslie Boyanovsky (artist), Metje C. Butler (artist), Ted M. Conde (artist), Stephanie Copoulos-Selle (artist), Amy Cropper (artist), Phyllis Donovan DeMeyer (artist), Lee H. Grantham (artist), Jo Greenen (artist), Gary John Gresl (artist), Martha Hayden (artist), Doug Haynes (artist), Sally Gauger Jensen (artist), Angelika Kade (artist), Patricia Keller (artist), David Klein (artist), Nancy Lamers (artist), Dara Larson (artist), Sherry Lawson Gates (artist), Phyllis Lingurd (artist), John S. Miller (artist), Lois Mogensen (artist), Kathy Moss-Reeves (artist), Karen E. Muench (artist), Jody K. Nolan (artist), Kaaren Oreck (artist), Audrey Lundquist Paesel (artist), Jeanne Cole Panka (artist), Anne-Marie Quackenbush (artist), Theron Caldwell Ris (artist), Janet Roberts (artist), George A. Ronsholdt (artist), Katherine Steichen Rosing (artist), Jamie Ross (artist), Geri Schrab (artist), Colette Odya Smith (artist), Carroll M. Tabaka (artist), Trudi Theisen (artist), Peggy Thurston-Farrell (artist), Judith Tomter (artist), Robert Paul Ulrich (artist), Vito Valenti (artist), Rose Van Vranken (artist), Larry Welo (artist), Charles F. Wickler (artist), Maurine A. Willey (artist), George C. Wussow (artist), Yan Xu (artist), Rita Yanny (artist), Peggy Zalucha (artist). West Bend, Wisconsin: West Bend Art Museum. 2000.CS1 maint: others (link)
  • . Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors, Inc. "Artists in All Media". Art in Wisconsin, the monthly newsletter of the Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors (Periodical). Madison, Wisconsin. 2005. OCLC 18214546.CS1 maint: others (link)

References
  1. "Martha Nessler Hayden, Biography". AskArt.com.
  2. Auer, James (May 24, 1992). "Women's show proves a strong one". The Milwaukee Sentinel. p. E6.
  3. "Martha Hayden planning annual art exhibition". Newspapers.com. The Lake Geneva Regional News. 20 October 2005. p. 43. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  4. Potter, Tyler. "Watercolor Wisconsin 2010". Racine Art Museum. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  5. Art Now Gallery Guide: International. Volume 24, Issues 9-10. Art Now, Incorporated. May 2005. p. 30.
  6. "Obituary for Aldo E. Nessler (Aged 55)". Chicago Tribune. 1960-09-02. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  7. Heise, Kenan (1994-12-23). "Minerva Kraft Nessler, 88, Librarian, Philanthropist". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  8. "Obituary: Charles Herbert Kraft". Wilmette Life. 3 April 1952. p. 71.
  9. "Paint Annapolis Spotlight: Martha Hayden". Maryland Federation of Art Blog. 2017-05-22. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  10. "2-Woman Show Takes You "Inside/Outside"". Newspapers.com. The Sheboygan Press. 9 January 2003. p. 19. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  11. Key, Donald (c. 1965). "Lively Oils, Sculpture Combined in Duo Show". The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  12. Key, Donald (c. 1970). "Bright Mexican Scenes Make Exhibit Glisten". The Milwaukee Sentinel.
  13. Schoenberg, Louann (April 20, 1989). "Sharon Artist Blends Aptitude With Talent". Janesville Gazette. p. 1C.
  14. Auer, James (1972). "Brown Paper Bags Are Her Bag". The Milwaukee Sentinel.
  15. Burke, Carol (1991-11-12). "Artist: Don't Get Too Comfortable". Local/Area. Janesville Gazette. Janesville, WI. pp. 1B & 3B.
  16. Jensen, Debra (April 3, 1988). "Hayden Paints Egg for D.C. Roll". The Sunday Gazette. Janesville, WI: The Janesville Gazzette. p. 9B.
  17. "Bosc Pears by Martha Hayden". Nebraska State Art Archive.
  18. "Naperville League Announces Riverwalk Art Fair Winners". Naperville. Daily Herald. Suburban Chicago. September 27, 1990. p. 5.
  19. "Art League Announces Riverwalk Fair Winners". The Naperville Sun. September 28, 1990. p. 5.
  20. "11th Annual Remarkable Women Show". Museum of Wisconsin Art.
  21. "Martha N. Hayden/Exhibitions". Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA).
  22. "Morning/noon/night, Hayden, Martha". Harvard University Fine Arts Library. 2018. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  23. "What you won't be reading on your Kindle, part 2". British Library, American Collections blog. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  24. Tancill, Karen B. (4 June 1978). "Individual Imagery Artist's Forte". Newspapers.com. The Journal Times. p. 19. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
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