Ross Moffett

Ross Embrose Moffett (1888 - 1971) is considered to be an important figure in the development of modernism in American Art after World War I. His primary subject matter is the life and landscapes of the Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Born in Clearfield, Iowa, on February 2, 1888, Moffett studied at the Art Institute in Chicago and also studied with Charles Hawthorne during the summer of 1913, in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He continued his studies at the Art Students League and later returned to Provincetown. He was one of the founders of the Provincetown Art Association and was a main figure of the art colony for many years. In 1920, Moffett married artist Dorothy Lake Gregory in Brooklyn, New York.

During the 1920's and 1930's, his worked became more and more noticed and he had his first one-man show at the Frank Rehn Gallery in New York and also at The Art Institute of Chicago in 1928. He was part of the jury on numerous exhibitions around the country, and taught briefly at the University of Miami in Ohio from 1932 to 1933, before returning to Provincetown to paint full-time. Moffett became a full member of the National Academy of Design in 1942.

Moffett painted less during World War II, but deepened his commitment to the Provincetown Art Association. In 1954, Moffett was one of two artists selected by the National Academy of Design to paint murals depicting President Dwight D. Eisenhower's life for the Eisenhower Memorial Museum in Abilene, Kansas. He was appointed to portray Eisenhower's civilian life. He continued to serve as a juror for the Provincetown Art Association and was artist-in-residence for the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center in 1970.

Ross Moffett died of cancer on March 13, 1971.