Jean MacLane

American painter Jean MacLane studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and later in Cincinnati, Ohio. MacLane then moved to New York to study with William Merritt Chase (1849-1916). Chase was the first to purchase a painting from her early works. MacLane married her teacher, Danish-born U.S. painter John Johansen. Together they founded the National Foundation of Portrait Painters in 1912. MacLane produced portrait paintings of women and children, and also of Greek Premier Venizelos, Australian Premier Hughes, and of Elisabeth, Queen of the Belgians. The sitters were often depicted outdoors or from behind under a sharp, moody light enhancing a palette of earth tones.

She created at least two paintings entitled Bathers: one, an oil painting measuring 1.04 x 1.02 m, was done in 1926, and another one in 1928. The only traceable portrait of her husband already dated from 1911, a 76.6 x 63.5 cm painting in oil on canvas. Two additional paintings were exhibited “hors concours”. Young Swimmers-Beach Life, Devon probably corresponds to Beach Life, Devonshire, a painting in oil on canvas from 1926 (140.3 x 140.3 cm).