Sydney Owen Jennings (American, 1920-2001) artist & watercolorist, primarily known for her landscapes, winterscapes, street scenes & cityscapes, marine scenes and still lifes. Sydney (née Owen) Jennings was the wife of the well known Western New York artist Rixford “Rix” Upham Jennings (American, 1906-1996) and they resided at 379 Maple Street in East Aurora, NY with their three children Rixford O., Andrew W. and Elizabeth “Liza”.
Sydney's early art instruction began with Saturday morning children's art classes in the basement of the Albright Art Gallery, and she later took classes at the Art Institute of Buffalo. She was an active member of the Buffalo Society of Artists during the 1940’s and 50’s. Both a painter and a musician, she had been more widely known as performing in concert than for publicly exhibiting her paintings. She and her husband passed on to their next two generations the love and talent of art both visually and musically.
Chronology:
1920- Born, March 5.
1944- Sydney married Rixford Upham Jennings (American 1906-1996), Buffalo, NY.
1947- Apr. 5-13, Exhibited, group show, “52nd Annual Exhibition of the Buffalo Society of Artists”, Fillmore Room at the Hotel Statler, Buffalo, NY.
1963- Nov. 3-Dec. 1, exhibited, group show, “Rixford Jennings, Sydney Owen Jennings, Lee Mitchell & Charles Rohrbach”, Carlton House Convalescent Center, 60 Carlton Street, Buffalo, NY.
1991- May 3-May 31 & Sept. 28-Oct. 30, two separate exhibitions, group show, “A Tribute to the Buffalo Society of Artists 1891-1991”, one watercolor shown “The Quiet Place” (1967, Westport, NY, 14 x 21.5”), The Art Shop-Walter Meibohm Fine Arts (now Meibohm Fine Arts), East Aurora, NY.
1996- January 20, her husband Rix died at the age of 89 in Mercy Hospital, Buffalo, NY, after a brief illness.
1998- Sept. 27, exhibited, retrospective solo show, “Sydney Owen Jennings A Love Story: A Tribute to the Man Who Saved These Paintings for Over 50 Years”, watercolors from the mid century 1943-1967 shown, 2R Gallery at the Roycroft Shops, East Aurora, NY.
1999- Oct. 3-Dec. 30, exhibited, two person show with her husband, “Rix and Sydney Jennings: The Early Years”, collection of watercolors shown produced before 1960, 2R Gallery at the Roycroft Shops, East Aurora, NY.
2000- June 16, Roycroft dedication ceremony for the renaming of the 2R Fine Art Gallery to the new
Sydney Owen Jennings Roycroft Renaissance Fine Art Gallery, held at the Roycroft Campus by Kitty Turgeon, with special readings by her children Elizabeth “Liza” (Seiner) & Andrew Jennings and the “Toast to Sydney” given by her husband Rix Jennings, East Aurora, NY.
2001- Died, April 9, at the age of 81, East Aurora, NY. August 3-October 21, exhibited, tribute show, “A Tribute to Sydney 1920-2001”, her paintings were shown at the Roycroft Renaissance Gallery with guest curator Grace Meibohm of Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY.
Memberships/Associations: Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY; The Print Club of Buffalo, NY; The Patteran Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY; Junior League of Buffalo, NY.
For additional information on this artist or for other examples of her works, please visit the AskArt
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(Rewritten & Compiled chronologically by Mark Strong of Meibohm Fine Arts, Inc., East Aurora, NY, meibohmfinearts.com, sources: Too long to list here and are furnished upon request.)
