Eda Nemoede Casterton

Eda Nemoede Casterton (1877-1969) was an American painter, known specifically for her portrait miniatures in watercolor, pastels and oil. She exhibited works at the Paris Salon and the San Francisco Panama-Pacific Exhibition of 1915, among others. Her works are held by the Smithsonian Institution, The Brooklyn Museum of Art and The John H. Vanderpoel Art Association. Her portrait of a young, clean shaven Abraham Lincoln is well known and remains in the National Gallery of Art.

Early years

Eda Nemoede was born in Brillion, Wisconsin on April 14, 1877 of German ancestry and lived in Illinois, Montana and finally California. Following the death of her father, her mother moved the family, consisting of seven brothers and sisters in addition to Eda, to Chicago. Nemoede began to paint in miniature, while maintaining a job as a stenographer. Her works at that time were done in watercolor on thin sheets of ivory. She studied at the Chicago Art Institute under Virginia Reynolds, generally considered the most famous American miniature painter of the time. Reynolds was duly impressed with her pupil's talent that at the time of her death she bequeathed her unfinished orders to Nemoede Casterton.

The Paris Salon

In 1905, Nemoede went to Paris and received favorable attention from the Paris Salon, where she exhibited. The critics favored her work, and remarked it was surprising an artist who had only studied in America would display such skill. An article in the Chicago Chronicle, dated June 21, 1903, stated, "Eda Nemoede bids fair to become one of the greatest miniature painters of America and those who have seen her work praise it unstintingly."

Lawton S. Parker, an artist and an authority on miniature painting, after viewing the work of the young Chicago girl said, "There are miles upon miles of miniatures in the French salon every year that will not compare with the best Miss Nemoede has done. Mrs. Virginia Reynolds, acknowledged to be the most famous and the best miniaturist in America, said Miss Nemoede was the most talented pupil she ever had, and that is high praise, for Mrs. Reynolds has had classes in Paris, New York and Chicago."

Marriage and Family

Back in America, in 1911 she married William Casterton, with whom she bore two daughters. Nemoede was forced to support the family with her art work, which had blossomed to include large portraits in oil or pastels, as well as the watercolor miniatures. William died in 1948, after which she moved to Montana to care for her sister Bertha.

Later Years

At the age of eighty-nine she was still earning her living doing portraits. Her daughter Virginia, concerned about her mother's advancing age and the distance between them, convinced her to move from Montana to California. She painted very little after coming to California, it is said, because she missed the Montana skies. She died in November, 1969, in Palos Verdes, California.

Memberships and Awards

Nemoede received Honorable Mention at the International Art Union (Paris) in 1907 and 1908. She was awarded a Silver Medal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 and sequestered a Bronze Medal at the Sesqui-Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia of 1926.

Nemoede was a member of the American Society of Miniature Painters, and Pennsylvania and Chicago Societies of Miniature Painters.

She was a longtime Christian Scientist.