Mary DeBerniere Graves-Rees was born on 8 June 1886 at Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina to Ralph Henry Graves, Jr and Julia Charlotte Hooper-Graves.
Mary attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1909, but transferred studies to pursue her interests in studying art. She attended the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and studied with Henry McCarter and William Chase in New York.
Mary was married to Arthur Dougherty Rees on 18 September 1919, and they had ONE son:
Pembroke Graves Rees (1920 - 2010).
Records are inconsistent about where Pembroke was born, some state Pennsylvania, others have New York, and still others have North Carolina. I have not been able to locate his parents on the 1920 census, which may offer some clarity.
Mary lived in New York during World War I, and illustrated a number of war posters and drew sketches for newspapers and magazine covers, such as "Slackers." Slackers was on the front cover of the magazine section of the New York World. Mary's illustrations were published in the New York Evening Post, the New York Tribune, Southern Magazine, Ruralist, Country Life, and more.
Mary's primary art form was portraiture painting and drawing. People of notoriety that Mary painted included Mrs. Fred Astaire, Tony Heard, (son of the editor of Home and Field), and E. N. Potter III, (great-grandson of Bishop Potter). Mary also had pastels exhibited at the Ferargil Galleries in New York.
Mary and Arthur were divorced, and she returned to Chapel Hill, NC in 1923. She resided with her mother, and taught art for a year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, then returned to her craft at her art Studio. Her primary mediums were pen-and-ink drawings and portraits in oil paint and pastels. She received numerous prizes and awards for her art work, including but not limited to the 1926 Best Work by a North Carolina Artist and the 1928 Silver Cup for portrait painting from the Kenilworth Art Galleries in Asheville, North Carolina.
Mary passed away on 28 April 1953, and was laid to rest at the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery (Presbyterian) in Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina.
REFERENCES:
1. 11 June 1900 Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina Census, (ED: 67, Stamped 180A, Sheet 11, Family #219, Line 6), Mother's Household: Widow: Julia C. Graves.
2. 1910
3. 1920
4. 17 April 1930 Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina Census, (ED: 68-6, Stamped 85, Sheet 20B, Family #446, Line 73), Mother's Household, Julia Graves.
5. 19 April 1940 Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina Census, (ED: 68-8, Stamped 132, Sheet 16B, Family #289, Line 73), Head of Household, Mary Graves-Rees.
6. Caldwell, Martha B., 1994, North Carolina Pedia online, (Accessed 29 March 2016):
http://ncpedia.org/biography/rees-mary#comment-12829:
Mary DeBerniere Graves-Rees was born on 8 June 1886 at Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina to Ralph Henry Graves, Jr and Julia Charlotte Hooper-Graves.
Mary attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1909, but transferred studies to pursue her interests in studying art. She attended the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and studied with Henry McCarter and William Chase in New York.
Mary was married to Arthur Dougherty Rees on 18 September 1919, and they had ONE son:
Pembroke Graves Rees (1920 - 2010).
Records are inconsistent about where Pembroke was born, some state Pennsylvania, others have New York, and still others have North Carolina. I have not been able to locate his parents on the 1920 census, which may offer some clarity.
Mary lived in New York during World War I, and illustrated a number of war posters and drew sketches for newspapers and magazine covers, such as "Slackers." Slackers was on the front cover of the magazine section of the New York World. Mary's illustrations were published in the New York Evening Post, the New York Tribune, Southern Magazine, Ruralist, Country Life, and more.
Mary's primary art form was portraiture painting and drawing. People of notoriety that Mary painted included Mrs. Fred Astaire, Tony Heard, (son of the editor of Home and Field), and E. N. Potter III, (great-grandson of Bishop Potter). Mary also had pastels exhibited at the Ferargil Galleries in New York.
Mary and Arthur were divorced, and she returned to Chapel Hill, NC in 1923. She resided with her mother, and taught art for a year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, then returned to her craft at her art Studio. Her primary mediums were pen-and-ink drawings and portraits in oil paint and pastels. She received numerous prizes and awards for her art work, including but not limited to the 1926 Best Work by a North Carolina Artist and the 1928 Silver Cup for portrait painting from the Kenilworth Art Galleries in Asheville, North Carolina.
Mary passed away on 28 April 1953, and was laid to rest at the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery (Presbyterian) in Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina.
REFERENCES:
1. 11 June 1900 Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina Census, (ED: 67, Stamped 180A, Sheet 11, Family #219, Line 6), Mother's Household: Widow: Julia C. Graves.
2. 1910
3. 1920
4. 17 April 1930 Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina Census, (ED: 68-6, Stamped 85, Sheet 20B, Family #446, Line 73), Mother's Household, Julia Graves.
5. 19 April 1940 Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina Census, (ED: 68-8, Stamped 132, Sheet 16B, Family #289, Line 73), Head of Household, Mary Graves-Rees.
6. Caldwell, Martha B., 1994, North Carolina Pedia online, (Accessed 29 March 2016):
http://ncpedia.org/biography/rees-mary#comment-12829:
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