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Mary Martha Himler was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1890, and grew up in the neighboring town of Latrobe. Dr. Paul Chew, director of the Westmoreland Museum of Art in Greensburg, writes: "When Mary Martha Himler graduated from Latrobe High School in 1908 she was told she was too shy to amount to anything. Throughout her career she continued to prove that statement incorrect. Her long and arduously attained education began at Irving College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (now Beaver College) where she completed a two year program in one year. At Indiana Normal School, Indiana, Pennsylvania (now Indiana University), she took one year to finish a three year program in art and graduated the following year with teaching degree. She began teaching elementary school in Latrobe in 1911."
In 1924, Himler began commuting to Pittsburgh to study art on evenings and weekends. She also enrolled in summer classes at Carnegie Institute, where she studied under prominent Pittsburgh artists Edmund M. Ashe, F. Bicknell, N. MacGilvary, Alexander Kostellow, Samuel Rosenberg, and L. Winslow. After receiving her degree in 1928, Himler undertook an additional two years of graduate study at the University of Pittsburgh. She also studied at Columbia University in New York on scholarship.
In 1928, Himler began exhibiting with the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and not long after, began to attract the eye of the jury. At the 24th exhibit of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh in 1934, Himler was awarded the alumnae prize of the Pittsburgh School of Design for the best painting by a woman artist, for her landscape entitled Another South View--First Ward. She also received a number of honorable mentions for her work, including one for a watercolor at the 32nd annual in 1942, and for a print, Evening Broods, at the 34th annual exhibit in 1944. She continued to teach in Latrobe, and for twenty-eight years organized loan exhibitions for Latrobe High School from the annual shows of the Associated Artists.
She retired from teaching in 1952, but returned to offer special programs and evening courses for adults and children. Dr. Chew comments: "She was proud of her success in awakening her students to the world around them and always encouraged unique and individual expression. She followed this philosophy in her own work which reflects the environment in which she lived."
Himler maintained a studio in her home at 10 N. Ligonier St. in Latrobe. Her paintings are done in a realistic style with rich color. Industry--East Latrobe was painted in 1936 and records a view of various factories and businesses in Latrobe. Latrobe Landscape was painted the following year, and presents brightly colored houses and a large brick building as seen through the zig-zaging girders of a bridge. Both works were exhibited at the 27th Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Exhibition in 1937.
Along with her membership with the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Himler also belonged to the Greensburg Art Club. She exhibited with the group from 1934-1946, winning prizes in 1935-1939, 1943, and 1946. She also showed at the Butler Art Institute, Youngstown, Ohio, in 1937, 1943, 1945 and 1946; the Art Alliance of Johnstown, winning a prize in 1946; a prize in 1939 at the Ebensburg Fair; and exhibited at the Indiana State Teachers College, Indiana, Pennsylvania, in 1943-46.
Sources:
Warner, Everett, "The Artist and His Community," with illustration of Another South View--First Ward, in Carnegie Magazine, vol. 7, February 1934, pp. 259-265.
"Pittsburgh's Annual Shows Many Artists Following John Kane," Art Digest, vol. 8, March 1, 1934, p. 32.
Lias, Thomas R., "Let's Look at the Jury: A Discussion of the Judging of the 32nd Annual Exhibition of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh," Carnegie Magazine, vol. 15, February 1942, pp. 259-270.
Carter, Clarence Holbrook, "Thirty-Fourth Annual in Review," Carnegie Magazine, vol. 17, February 1942, pp. 259-266.
Chew, Paul. Southwestern Pennsylvania Painters. Greensberg: Westmoreland Museum of Art, 1989.
Falk, Peter Hastings (edit.). Who Was Who in American Art. Madison, CT: Sound View Press, 1985.
This document copyright © 1996, Eric John Schruers