1940s "Spring" Kenneth B. Ransley - Oil on Canvas Board

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Kenneth Brown Ransley (March 21, 1893-June 12, 1989) was a female portrait artist who painted thousands of paintings in her … Read more Kenneth Brown Ransley (March 21, 1893-June 12, 1989) was a female portrait artist who painted thousands of paintings in her lifetime. A native of Dawson, Ga., she studied art at the School of Art Institute of Chicago and met her husband, artist Frank T. Ransley, while in school. The couple settled in Park Ridge, Ill., where Kenneth painted portrait commissions and held open studio sessions with live models. Park Ridge attracted many artists. "Other artists who also lived and worked in Park Ridge include Albert Krehbiel and his wife, Dulah Evans Krehbiel, Alfonso Iannelli, Grant Wood, Eugene Romeo, Kenneth Brown Ransley." During World War II, she donated her talents to the war effort, visiting the Service Men's Center in Chicago twice a week to sketch portraits of enlisted men. She executed 1,400 or these portraits and gave them to either the sitter or his family.
Ransley, who grew up in Dawson, Georgia, was sent north to Chicago to study at the Art Institute of Chicago where she met her husband before settling in Park Ridge in 1915, Brehmer wrote. The second floor of the couple’s home at 111 Clinton Street — which still stands today — was turned into a studio “big enough to hold 12 easels” and was where Ransley drew and painted her subjects, according to Brehmer. During World War II, Ransley turned to sketching portraits of military personnel before they left to fight overseas, Brehmer said.“Twice a week she went to the Service Men’s Center in Chicago and sketched the enlisted men using black and brown pencils on buff paper,” Brehmer wrote. “Each of the 1,400 portraits she completed was given to the sitter or his family along with a free mailing tube.” “She used to have a Thursday painting class at her house.She would supply the paints and have live volunteer models from Park Ridge come in and the artists would paint them.” See less