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Ednah Root

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Ednah Root
Born
Edna Root Ehrbar

(1907-06-23)June 23, 1907
New York City, U.S.
DiedAugust 4, 1987(1987-08-04) (aged 80)
Greenbrae, California, U.S.
Other namesEdna Root,
Edna Root Howard,
Ednah Root Shapiro,
Ednah Root Nicoloudis
EducationColumbia University, Parsons School of Design, Grand Central School of Art, Art Students League of New York
OccupationsPainter, textile designer, sculptor, muralist, philanthropist, arts patron
Years active1920s–1980s
MovementAbstract expressionist
Spouse(s)Hampton Warren Howard (m. 1939–1941; div.),
Joseph M. Shapiro (m. 1966–1968; death),
Constantine Nicoloudis (m. 1975–c.1978; div.)

Ednah Root (née Edna Root Ehrbar; June 23, 1907 – August 4, 1987) was an American painter, textile designer, philanthropist, and arts patron.[1][2][3] She also worked as a sculptor, and muralist. She is the namesake of the nonprofit the Ednah Root Foundation, and the Ednah Root Curatorship of American Art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Early life and education

[edit]

Ednah Root was born as Edna Root Ehrbar on June 23, 1907, in New York City.[4] Her parents were Florence Cathryn Root and Louis Harvey Ehrbar.[5] She started painting in childhood.[6] Root attended the Bond Street School in Asbury Park, New Jersey;[7] and Asbury Park High School.[8]

Initially she attended Columbia University.[5][8] She studied at the Grand Central School of Art, the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (now Parsons School of Design), and the Art Students League of New York.[9] Her teachers included Arshile Gorky, and Hans Hofmann.[9][1]

Career

[edit]

In her early career Root created drawing and impasto paintings of abstract horses and mountains in earth tones, inspired by the landscape of Palm Springs.[6] She worked as an abstract expressionist,[6] and held exhibitions internationally.[10]

Root designed a series of tapestries, woven by Nazareth Tapestry Ltd. in France.[2][3]

She had established the Toy Clinics of America, to provide year-round presents to military personnel, and institutionalized people including children and the elderly.[1]

For 30 years she lived winters in Palm Springs, California, and also in the Nob Hill neighborhood in San Francisco.[9][11] Additionally Root had lived in La Jolla neighborhood in San Diego.[3]

Death and legacy

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Root had a heart attack in her home in Stinson Beach, California.[9] She died days later at age 80 on August 4, 1987, at Marin General Hospital (now MarinHealth Medical Center) in Greenbrae, California.[9][11]

At the time of her death, her works were in more than 800 private collections.[11] Root's work is included in the museum collections at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City,[12] and the Rose Art Museum in Massachusetts.[13]

She is the namesake of the Ednah Root Foundation, a private charitable foundation supporting San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits; and the Ednah Root Curatorship of American Art founded in 1979 at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.[14] Before her death Root had donated 650 acres (260 ha) of land in the Palm Springs area to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.[9]

Personal life

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In 1939 she married in Miami, Florida, to Hampton Warren Howard (1904–1972), a partner of the G.T. Howard cotton firm.[5] The couple divorced in 1941 in Nevada.[15]

She was later married to Joseph M. Shapiro (1888–1968) in 1966, founder of the Simplicity Pattern Company.[16] Shapiro died in 1968.[16]

In 1975, she married Constantine Nicoloudis, the Greek owner of a travel agency and yacht rental firm Nicoloudis Tours Ltd.[17][18] The Nicoloudis' separated in the summer of 1978.[19]

Exhibitions

[edit]

Solo exhibitions

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  • 1964, solo exhibition, Pietrantonio Galleries, New York City, New York[6]
  • 1967, Ednah Root Paintings and Tapestries, solo exhibition, Comara Gallery, 8475 Melrose Place, Los Angeles, California[20]
  • 1968, solo exhibition, Downey Art Museum, Downey, California[21]
  • 1969, solo exhibition, Galerie Du Jonelle, 241 East Tahquitz Way, Palm Springs, California[21][22]
  • 1969, solo exhibition, La Jolla Museum of Art (now Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego), San Diego, California[23]
  • 1970, The Art of Ednah Root, solo retrospective exhibition, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, California[21]
  • 1973, solo exhibition, Parade Gallery, 3228 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, California[2]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 "Ednah Root, Toy Clinic Founder, Recalls Her Work in Ridgefield". The Ridgefield Press. January 22, 1981. p. 25. Retrieved October 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 "'Parade' presents collection of graphics by Ednah Root". San Francisco Banner. September 28, 1973. p. 3. Retrieved October 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 "La Jolla Museum Slates Art Show by Ednah Root". The Desert Sun. July 10, 1969. p. 5. Retrieved October 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Edna Root Ehrbar, Birth • New York, New York City Births, 1846–1909". familysearch.org. June 23, 1907.
  5. 1 2 3 "Edna Root Married in Miami Ceremony; Former Art Student Here Bride of Hampton W. Howard". The New York Times. March 23, 1939. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Desert Artist Shows in East". The Desert Sun. August 19, 1964. p. 5. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Grammar Grads of City Schools". Asbury Park Press. February 1, 1921. p. 1. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 "38 Graduates Are Attending College". Asbury Park Press. September 28, 1925. p. 13. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ednah Root". San Francisco Chronicle (obituary). August 7, 1987. p. 37. Retrieved October 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Ednah Root Entertains for Art Crowd". The Desert Sun. January 16, 1969. p. 7. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. 1 2 3 "Obituary for Ednah Root". The Desert Sun (obituary). August 11, 1987. p. 4. Retrieved October 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Ednah Root". Whitney Museum of American Art. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Avalanche, 1964". Rose Art Museum.
  14. ↑ Asian Art Museum of San Francisco; Avery Brundage Collection; California Palace of the Legion of Honor; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; M.H. de Young Memorial Museum; San Francisco Museum Society (1995). "Donor Portrait". Triptych. San Francisco Museum Society. p. 14 – via Google Books.
  15. ↑ "Decrees Granted". Reno Gazette-Journal. May 26, 1941. p. 14. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Newspaper.com.
  16. 1 2 "Joseph M. Shapiro of Simplicity, 79; Founder of Pattern Concern Dies – Began in Loft Here (Published 1968)". The New York Times (obituary). July 31, 1968. Retrieved October 4, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Ednah Root Is Wed In Civil Rite". The Desert Sun. May 21, 1975. p. 9. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Nicoloudis Palm Springs Home Reflects Love of Arts, Nature". The Desert Sun. March 19, 1976. p. 29. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Away From Paris When It Sizzles". San Francisco Chronicle. July 31, 1978. p. 12. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Comara Gallery". The Desert Sun. February 16, 1967. p. 5. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. 1 2 3 "Spa Artist Has One-Man Show Here". The Desert Sun. February 28, 1969. p. 28. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "One Woman Show". The Desert Sun. March 13, 1969. p. 6. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "Edah Root". The Desert Sun. August 21, 1969. p. 5. Retrieved October 4, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
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