Wikipedia

Margaret Coe

Margaret Coe (born 1941) is an American painter known for her Impressionist art works painted en plein air in Oregon. Her paintings are preserved in the Oregon Legislative Assembly's One Percent for Art Collection, at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, and in the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. Crater Lake #2 (2010) is on display at the Oregon State Capitol.

Margaret Coe
Coe at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in 2018
Born1941 (age 82–83)
Alma materUniversity of Oregon (BA, MFA)
StyleImpressionism
SpouseMark Clarke
Children2
RelativesDescendants of Robert Coe

Biography

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Coe, also known as Peg,[1][2] was born in Coats, Kansas to Curtis and Pearl Coe (née Haney).[2][3] She is the 8th great granddaughter of Robert Coe, a New England Colonist and public official.[4][5] When she was 12 years of age, her family moved to Oregon.[2] She began painting from a young age leading her to attend the University of Oregon (UO) for Fine art, first obtaining a Bachelor of Arts and then a Master of Fine Arts in 1978. She studied under David McCosh and Frank Okada.[2][6][7] She taught art at the Maude Kerns Art Center, Lane Community College, and UO.[6][8] Laura Ross-Paul is a contemporary of Coe.[7]

She met her husband, artist Mark Clarke, at UO.[1] They exhibited many of their paintings together beginning in the 1960s.[1][2][9] Clarke was the curator of the University of Oregon Museum of Art for more than twenty years. He died on January 11, 2016.[1][10][2] Their daughter, Karin Clarke, owns the Karin Clarke Gallery and its annex in Eugene.[11][1] Their son Tim Clarke is a jazz musician.[12][13]

Paintings

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Steps to the Sea (1986) on display at the University of Oregon[2]

Coe's chosen medium is oil on canvas. Her style is impressionist. She paints plein air landscapes from observation as a base before she returns to her studio in Laurel Hill. In her studio she re-interprets the pieces retrospectively. She was influenced by Charles Heaney and Clayton Sumner Price, both Oregon-based modernist painters.[10][2]

Coe is one of Eugene, Oregon's most recognized artists.[1] Eugene Weekly said she is one of the artists which has "influenced generations of artists as well as the direction of painting in the region."[14]

Coe and Clarke were honored with a 6-month retrospective in 2017—2018 by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.[12][6][15] The curator for the museum said it was a "dream project" for the museum.[16] A book created by the museum to accompany the exhibition, Mark Clarke and Margaret Coe: our lives in paint, is archived at the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.[17]

Seven[18] of her paintings were acquired by the Oregon Legislative Assembly in the One Percent for Art Collection, the first law in the United States setting aside funds to purchase and preserve artwork by recognized artists in the state. Crater Lake #2 (2010), Coe's interpretation of the landscape of Crater Lake National Park, is hanging in the Oregon State Capitol.[7] Several pieces are in colleges and government buildings around the state.[18][2]

Coe's paintings are also in collections at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, the Coos Art Museum, and Morbihan.[19][17]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Barkai, Ester (January 12, 2023). "Peg's Home Adventure". Eugene Weekly. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hartz, Jill; Knapp, Danielle, eds. (2017). Mark Clarke and Margaret Coe: Our Lives in Paint. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon. ISBN 9780990353393.
  3. ^ "Curtis Claire Coe". Statesman Journal. October 29, 1996.
  4. ^ Bartlett, J. Gardner (1911). Robert Coe, Puritan. Published for private circulation. ISBN 9780598765826.
  5. ^ Olmstead, Henry King (2021). Olmsted genealogy, third-fourth supplement, 1923-28. Hassell Street Press. ISBN 978-1013458972.
  6. ^ a b c Denis, Matthew (January 16, 2019). "Five Oregon painters at two Eugene galleries". The Register-Guard. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
  7. ^ a b c "Art of the time: Oregon's State Capitol Art Collection" (PDF). oregonlegislature.gov. 2011.
  8. ^ "Maude's Choice – Eugene Weekly". eugeneweekly.com. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
  9. ^ "The Northwest Landscape | January 31 - April 27, 2024". Karin Clarke Gallery. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
  10. ^ a b "Mark Clarke and Margaret Coe: Our Lives in Paint | Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art". jsma.uoregon.edu. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
  11. ^ Barkai, Ester (January 28, 2021). "Taking a Chance on Art". Eugene Weekly. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
  12. ^ a b Bjornstad, Randi (October 17, 2017). "New exhibit at the UO's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art traces the life's work — and marriage — of two esteemed Eugene painters". Eugene Scene. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
  13. ^ Bjornstad, Randi (February 8, 2020). "APPLAUSE: Jazz trumpeter Tim Clarke, originally from Eugene, voted JazzBuffalo (N.Y.) Artist of the Year". Eugene Scene. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
  14. ^ Buckwalter, Dan (January 25, 2024). "Magnificent Landscapes And Artists". Eugene Weekly. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  15. ^ "A Retrospective Exhibition of Oregon Artists Mark Clarke and Margaret Coe Opens at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art | Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art". jsma.uoregon.edu. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
  16. ^ Knapp, Danielle; Peppis, Paul; Coe, Margaret (February 9, 2018). UO Today with Margaret Coe and Danielle Knapp (Video). University of Oregon.
  17. ^ a b c d e Institution, Smithsonian. "Mark Clarke and Margaret Coe : our lives in paint / Jill Hartz & Danielle M. Knapp, editors". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
  18. ^ a b "Margaret Coe - Public Art". publicartarchive.org. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
  19. ^ McDonald, Abbey (2023-07-14). "ART: July's artist exhibitions in Salem". Salem Reporter. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
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