Merton Willmore

(American, 1893-1974)

Merton Willmore was born in Foxboro, Massachusetts in 1893.   His interests in drawing and painting began when he was in grade school.  At the age of 16, he started a two year night course in engineering drawing at the Lowell Institute in Boston.  During the days he worked for a group of patent attorneys preparing meticulous drawings of machinery.  At the conclusion of these studies, he went on to receive art training at the Fenway School of Illustration in Boston.   During World War I, Merton served in the Army where he was assigned to drawing maps.  After the war, he worked from the Griffith Stillings Press Company and the Rust Craft Greeting Card Company.  He later went into business for himself as a free lance artist.   One of his largest clients was the Gibson Card Company, which eventually hired him to be theArt Director of their firm.  He moved to Cincinnati and worked at the firm for 35 years.  

Merton studied landscape painting under artists Frank Meyers, John F. Carlson, Lester Stevens, Charles Curtis Allen, and Elmer Browne.  He had his first one man show at Closson’s Galleries in Cincinnati.  This was followed by three more shows at Closson’s and others at the Cincinnati Art Club.  He exhibited for many years and was represented in numerous exhibitions at the Cincinnati Art Museum.  Merton died in December of 1974 in Cincinnati at the age of 81.

Studied

Lowell Institute, Boston; Fenway School of Illustration, Boston; with Frank Meyers, John Carlson, Lester Stevens, Charles Curtis Allen, and Elmer Browne

Member

American Watercolor Society; Cincinnati Art Club; McDowell Society; Professional Artists of Cincinnati; Salmagundi Club, NY

Exhibited

Closson’s Gall., Cincinnati; Cincinnati Art Club; Cincinnati Art Museum; American Watercolor Society Travel Shows, 1960, 1970; Mus. FA, Montgomery, AL; Maine Art Gall., Governor’s Mansion, Columbus, OH

Work

Gibson Card Company; Griffith Stillings Press Company; Rust Craft Greeting Card Company

Resources

"Focus on the Artist" article, Griffin Gallery