Gretchen Dow Simpson
Gretchen Dow Simpson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gretchen Hansell Dow May 17, 1939 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | April 11, 2025 (aged 85) Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Rhode Island School of Design |
| Occupation | Painter |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 2 |
| Website | https://gretchendowsimpson.com/ |
Gretchen Hansell Dow Simpson (née Dow; May 17, 1939 – April 11, 2025) was an American painter from New England.[1] She is the author of over 60 magazine covers for The New Yorker.[2]
Family and personal life
[edit]Born Gretchen Hansell Dow on May 17, 1939 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of Elizabeth Sagendorph Dow and Richard A. Dow, who lived in Dover, Massachusetts.[3][4] She was educated at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island, class of 1961.[1]
Career
[edit]Simpson spent many years living in New York City, where she began her career in advertising.[3] She was best known for her paintings of New England architecture, noted for its dedication to geometry and scale.[3][5][2] Her work is best known for her attention to details, proportions, and lighting effects. Simpson considered herself a “painter with a photographer’s eye,” and architectural forms have always drawn her.[5] Between 1974 and 1993, over 50 of her paintings were featured as covers of The New Yorker.[6][2] Her covers stopped appearing in the magazine when editor Tina Brown began commissioning more topical material for the publication.[3]
Her work has been exhibited in New York City, Maine, and Rhode Island, and many of her paintings are in private collections.[1] In October 2012, a 1,300-square-foot highway mural, based on one of her paintings, was installed on Interstate 95 in Pawtucket, RI as part of the then Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee's Highway Beautification Project.[7]
Personal life and death
[edit]She married John Ramsey Simpson Jr, aka actor John Ramsey, on April 20, 1968.[3] In 2005, Simpson received a Pell Grant.[1] In 2009, she received an honorary doctorate from Bryant University, a private university in Rhode Island.[5][1] Her two daughters are Megan and Phoebe.[2] John and Gretchen Simpson divorced in 1982.[3] In 2013, Simpson married James Baird, a professor of chemistry at Brown University.[3] The couple lived in Providence, Rhode Island.[3]
On April 11, 2025, Simpson died at home from complications of Lewy body dementia; she was 85.[3][8]
Reference
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Gretchen Dow Simpson". arts.ri.gov. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Bannister, Polly (October 23, 2008). "Gretchen Dow Simpson Decorates for Christmas". newengland.com. Yankee Publishing, Inc. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Williams, Alex (April 25, 2025). "Gretchen Dow Simpson, Creator of New Yorker Covers, Dies at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
- ^ Laskey, Margaux. "His Post-Surgical Care: French Custards". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ a b c "Gretchen Dow Simpson". networksrhodeisland.org. Joseph A. Chazan M.D. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ Ware, Chris. "Cover Story: Haunted by Gretchen Dow Simpson". newyorker.com. Condé Nast. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ Naylor, Donita. "A view from Hopkinton: This overpass is worth a second look". providencejournal.com. GateHouse Media, LLC. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ "Artist Gretchen Dow Simpson Dies at 86 - Author of 58 New Yorker Covers". GoLocalProv.com. April 15, 2025. Retrieved April 18, 2025.
- 1939 births
- 2025 deaths
- 20th-century American painters
- 21st-century American painters
- 20th-century American women painters
- 21st-century American women painters
- Deaths from Lewy body dementia
- People from Dover, Massachusetts
- Painters from Massachusetts
- Neurological disease deaths in Massachusetts
- Painters from Rhode Island
- Artists from Providence, Rhode Island
- Rhode Island School of Design alumni