Sense, Sensibility and Sensation: The Marvelous Miniatures and Perfect Pastels of Laura Coombs Hills

About the Book

Innovative and yet traditional, Laura Coombs Hills (1859-1952) was renowned for both her miniatures on ivory and, later, her pastels of flowers. “Queen of Miniature Painters”, “…a veritable John Singer Sargent of miniature painting” and “Dean of Flower Pastels” were merely some of the many accolades ascribed to this New England artist. However, Hills’ accomplishments and contributions to America’s art historical culture entailed so much more.

Sense, Sensibility and Sensation: The Marvelous Miniatures and Perfect Pastels of Laura Coombs Hills, America’s Lyrical Impressionist was conceived and written as an atypical art history book to better explore Hills’ many contributions to American culture, with a view toward a broader understanding of Hill’s ethos. Beyond the presentation of her unique, biographical history as an independent, woman-entrepreneur, this book explores Hill’s role in perpetuating a sense of individualism associated more closely with the concepts of home, hearth, and honor of the nineteenth century than the psychological anomie associated with the Modernism of the twentieth, - her own time. In addition, on the pages of this book will be found relevant discussions regarding Hills’ ties to Sense, Sensibility and Sensation, that is, to the idea of individualism associated with nineteenth century miniatures and Walt Whitman’s celebration of America; the notion of beauty associated with Contemplative Romanticism espoused by Edmund Burke; the sentiments of the “Romance poets” (Lord Byron and Percy B. Shelley); as well as the nineteenth century color theories of Michel Chevreul favored by the Impressionists. Moreover, notions of “democratic empiricism”, “aesthetic lyricism”, and Hills’ passion for “symphonic colors” – are all contributory factors which help to identity Laura Coombs Hills as what I have termed “America’s Lyrical Impressionist”.

About the Author

Born and educated in Massachusetts, Miss Kelleher began her undergraduate studies in the Liberal Arts at prestigious Wheaton College in Norton, where she was on the Dean’s List. A transfer student, she received the degree of “Bachelor of Arts with Distinction” from Simmons College, Boston. Graduating in the top five percent of her class while majoring in Sociology, Economics and Art History, beyond “Distinction” additional baccalaureate honors conferred included: Academy (Collegiate Honor Society), Departmental Recognition (History of Art), Dean’s List and receipt of academic grants. Further general art historical studies and specialized new directions reflecting a burgeoning interest in American Art and Culture as well as European Painting of the Nineteenth Century, were undertaken within the Department of the History of Art, Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy program at Boston University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. By age twenty-four, she had independently researched and authored her first book and the first art historical book ever written on Boston artist, Lilian Westcott Hale - titled Enchantment: The Art and Life of Lilian Westcott Hale, America’s Linear Impressionist. A year later came the independently researched and written Unlikely Icon and the majority of Sense, Sensibility and Sensation: The Marvelous Miniatures and Perfect Pastels of Laura Coombs Hills, America’s Lyrical Impressionist. Eventually, new interests in English Literature beckoned, so Kelleher completed a Master of Arts Degree in English Literature at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she received a full scholarship and wrote her book The Rose Upon the Trellis: William Faulkner’s Lena Grove. Currently enrolled in the Master of Science Degree in Business Administration at Worcester State University, Kelleher is pursuing business courses while editing her soon-to-be-published book on Laura Coombs Hills. She was also accepted to study at Clark University, having received the Clark Alumni Scholarship. Her other five books include: The Fantasmagorical Feline Adventures of Little Miss Libby; The Secrets of Willow Creek; How to Research, Write and Publish an Art History Book in American Art; and Unlikely Icon: The Art, Culture and Philosophy of Forest Hills Cemetery, Boston: A Nineteenth Century Symbol of American Values and A Brief Book of Children’s Tales. She is the niece of the renowned Hollywood writer and producer, the late Paul W. Keyes of Paul W. Keyes Productions, Westlake Village, California.