Eisner, Dorothy

Dorothy Eisner was an artist and painter who found much inspiration during her stays on Cranberry Island. She became enmeshed in the artist community that emerged on the island during the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Along with her sister, the painter Anne Eisner, Dorothy depicted the landscape and people of Cranberry with her brush. The following is an excerpt from the booklet ‘Artists of Cranberry Isles’ written by Wini Smart.

“Dorothy Eisner’s painting career spanned more than seven decades. In 1924, Eisner began her studies at the Art Students League, New York, where she studied with Boardman Robinson and Kenneth Hayes Miller. In the late 1920s Eisner took three lengthy trips to France, studying briefly at the Académie de la Grand Chaumiere in Paris. The influence of Matisse and Cézanne in her work is evident from this period forward.

“Always active in avant-garde art circles in New York, Eisner served on the Board of the Society of Independent Artists in the 1930s, having been nominated by John Sloan. In 1941, along with Adolph Gottlieb, Mark Rothko, and others, she co-founded the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors.

“Then, in the 1950s Eisner studied with Jack Tworkov, and her work became both more expressive and abstract.

“Dorothy Eisner’s work has been exhibited at the Salons of America, the Society of Independent Artists, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, the New York World’s Fair (1939), the New York Society of Women Artists, the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, and the Brooklyn Museum. A solo exhibition titled Dorothy Eisner: Paintings and Collages was shown in 1992 at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine. The Farnsworth’s collection also includes a wonderful Eisner painting of a House on Great Cranberry Island.

“She was the friend of many artists [on Cranberry Island], using them as her subjects.”