Explore: Anne Estelle Rice

(1879 - 1959)

Born at Concholhocken, near Philadelphia in America, Anne Estelle Rice studied at the city’s Academy of Fine Arts, before taking up graphic illustration. In 1906 she was commissioned by a Philadelphia department store to research in Paris for a series of Rococo-style murals for the store. She stayed in Paris, becoming a member of the Salon d’Automne. She also met Picasso and befriended the Scottish Colourist painters, J. D. Fergusson and S. J. Peploe. A solo exhibition of Rice’s work was held at the Baillie Gallery (1910, London) which was so successful that she exhibited again in 1911. She moved to London in 1913 after marrying the critic O. Raymond Drey. In London she exhibited her work and designed theatre sets and illustrated books.