Remembering Greenville artist Bette Lee Coburn
Greenville artist Bette Lee Coburn passed away April 21 at age 91. Three of Coburn’s works (pictured above) are in the South Carolina Arts Commission’s State Art Collection. Her 1970 work Zetetic was in the South Carolina State Museum‘s 2012 exhibition, Abstract Art 1949-2012.
All three works are oil on canvas. Click on each image for a larger view.
The Greenville News ran this article about Coburn:
Greenville artist remembered as stalwart of local arts community
“Admired contemporary visual artist and longtime stalwart of the South Carolina Arts community Bette Lee Coburn died Sunday in Greenville. Coburn was just months from her 92nd birthday.
In her 57 years in Greenville, Coburn managed to rise to the forefront of the local and national arts communities with her combination of abstract and expressionist works.
“She would paint more from her inner landscapes than she would from outer landscapes,” said Sandy Rupp, director at Hampton III Gallery in Taylors, where Coburn was a featured artist. “So she was dealing with the emotions and sensations within her and that was coming out was in abstract forms and harmonious colors and rhythmic lines. It was unique to her.”
The Chicago native began her education at Grinnell College. She married Marvin Coburn and had two children, before furthering her education at the Chicago Art Institute and the Evanston Art Center.
Marvin and Bette Lee moved to Greenville in 1956 when Marvin’s job in textiles brought them here. Coburn fed her love of the creative arts by volunteering to paint scenery at the Greenville Little Theater.
Slowly, Coburn immersed herself in the local arts world. She has had shows from Columbia to Greenville and from Cannes, France to London. She is one of 39 artists featured in the book, “39 Contemporary Artists of South Carolina.”
Via: The Greenville News