Victoria Hutson
Huntley
Noted
lithographer who loved Florida's natural beauty
Artist Victoria Hutson Huntley was born in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey in
1900. As a young girl, she spent much of her spare time visiting the
museums and art galleries of New York City, which inspired her
natural artistic inclinations. Her early training took place at
the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, as she had won a scholarship. She followed that schooling by spending two years with
the Art Students League. In 1930, she had her first exhibit . . . it
was a solo show at the Weyhe Gallery in New York City.
Beyond her interest in studying art and nature, she also had a desire to
teach art. So, when she left the Art Students League, it was to teach
art at the College of Industrial Arts in Denton, Texas.
Victoria later focused on lithography. She
received awards and recognition at the Art Institute of Chicago's International Exhibition
of 1930, and the Philadelphia Print Club's National
Exhibition of 1933. Her work focused on industrial themes, displaying
precise details; aligning itself with the hardedge mechanics of that era.
Throughout the decade of the 1940s, she veered away
from mainstream art to softer, more sensitive and personal subjects: flowers, birds, and landscapes.
She became enamored with the natural beauty of Florida. This era
culminated in a series of lithographs that depicted the Florida Everglades.
The works carried such titles as: Florida Swamp with American Egret
Taking Flight, Lake Cuthbert Rookery -The Everglades, and The Glade Before
Entering the Everglades.
Victoria was married to Dr. Ralph Huntley, a professor
of physics. In 1946, the Winter Park Herald announced that both husband and wife were called by Hamilton Holt to join
the faculty at Rollins College. They both accepted these faculty
positions, he as an Associate Professor of Physics, and she as an Assistant
Professor of Art.
Among her other activities, she was commissioned to
paint murals to adorn post offices in the North East, including Springville,
New York, and Greenwich, Connecticut. Further, she was the author and
illustrator of a book entitled Portraits of Plants and Places in
1948.
Her works have been collected by museums across the
country, including: the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Boston Museum of
Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Houston Art Museum.
While living in Winter Park, she was a popular local artist, and local merchants took pride in displaying her
works of art in their stores and businesses.
Newspaper articles that were written about her life in
Winter Park described Mrs. Huntley as someone who reveled in a normal life.
She enjoyed her home and domesticity, community work, her friends, and
lecturing on art to all types of audiences.
Her professional affiliations included: the National
Academy of Design, the National Association of Women Artists, and Audubon
Artists.
Victoria Hutson Huntley died in 1971 in Arlington,
Virginia.
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Photograph of the artist
Source: Winter Park History & Archives Photograph Collection
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Photograph of the artist
Source: Winter Park History & Archives Photograph Collection
Caption: The artist herself - Victoria Hutson Huntley, who has brought art
to "main street". Mrs. Huntley is shown working in her studio.
With her is her shadow, her dog "Jolly", who insisted on getting into the
picture. |
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Item: Exhibit announcement (front)
Source: Galleries of Kennedy & Co., Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
Date: May 1949
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Item: Exhibit announcement (inside)
Source: Galleries of Kennedy & Co., Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
Date: May 1949 |
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Item: Exhibit announcement (back)
Source: Galleries of Kennedy & Co., Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
Date: May 1949 |
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Item: Copy of photograph: Rollins College faculty (1946-1947)
Source: Rollins College Archives & Special Collections
Date: 1946
*Hamilton Holt: Second person, front row
*Victoria Hutson Huntley: Third person, front row
*Ralph Huntley: Fourth person, second row |
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Item: Copy of order card for Portraits of Plants and Places
Source: Rollins College Archives & Special Collections
Caption: Round Lobed Hepatica or Liverleaf. Reproduced from the original
Lithograph by Victoria Hutson Huntley, A.N.A., 8 5/16 x 8 inches |
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Photograph of Winter Park jeweler Calvin May displaying artwork
Source: Winter Park History & Archives Photograph Collection
Caption: Calvin May, jeweler, admires the roseate spoonbills in Flight,
his selection of the Huntley lithographs.
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Photograph of Mrs. Leah Fishel displaying artwork
Source: Winter Park History & Archives Photograph Collection
Caption: Mrs. Leah Fishel at the Lohr-Lea Dress Shop proudly exhibits her
copy of Cuthbert Rookery in the window against a background of
manikins (sic).
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Item: Newspaper article
Source: The Winter Park Herald
Title: “Center Street Gallery Exhibits Local Artistic Talent”
Date: February 22, 1951
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Photograph of the Winter Park pharmacist and businessman "Doc" Neill O'Brien displaying
artwork.
Source: Winter Park History & Archives Photograph Collection
Caption: "Doc" Neill O'Brien shows his Sawgrass Country to an
interested and admiring customer. |
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Photograph of Winter Park realtor Mrs. Gertrude Royal displaying artwork.
Source: Winter Park History & Archives Photograph Collection
Caption: Mrs. Gertrude Royal, realtor, displays (left) Wild Birds - Big
Cypress, a three-color lithograph, and (right) Oklawaha River
(sic). |
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Item: Newspaper article
Source: The Winter Park Herald
Title: “Prof. & Mrs. R. Huntley Receive Appointments To Rollins Faculty”
Date: August 30, 1946 |
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Photograph of banker Ray Rosenfelt displaying artwork.
Source: Winter Park History & Archives Photograph Collection
Caption: Ray Rosenfelt, Winter Park's banker, holds the three-color
lithograph The Everglades he chose for the bank. |
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Photograph of actress Soo Yong displaying artwork.
Source: Winter Park History & Archives Photograph Collection
Caption: Soo Yong, noted Chinese actress, (in private life Mrs. C.K. Huang)
is shown with her lithograph Sawgrass Country - The Everglades at her
Winter Park gift shop. |
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Item: Newspaper article
Source: The Orlando Sunday Sentinel Star
Title: “Victoria Huntley Doesn't Cotton To Time-Worn Ideas About
Artists”
Date: Unknown |
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