Eda Nemoede Casterton (1877–1969) was an American painter[1] 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[2], The Brooklyn Museum of Art[3] 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.
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Eda Wilhelmina Nemoede was born to Edward Carl Ludwig Nemoede and Maria Georgina Bastian in Brillion, Wisconsin on April 14, 1877[4] of German ancestry and lived in Illinois, Montana and finally California. Following the death of her father 6 March 1895 in Oconto, Wisconsin, her mother moved the family, consisting of seven brothers and sisters in addition to Eda, to Chicago. Her mother then died in Chicago, Illinois on 8 December 1914. Nemoede began to paint in miniature, while maintaining a job as a law stenographer. Her works at that time were done in watercolor on thin sheets of ivory[5].
In 1905, Nemoede went to Paris and received favorable attention from the Paris Salon[6], 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."
She studied with Henry Salem Hubbell during her years in France.[7]
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."[8]
Nemoede returned from Paris in 1908 and began teaching at the Art Institute of Chicago.[9] She had previously studied there with Virginia Reynolds, a noted artist in her own right and considered the most accomplished miniature American painter of the time.[10]
On 29 June 1911 in Chicago, Illinois, Nemoede married William John Casterton and during the marriage gave birth to two daughters, Jane Nemoede Casterton born 20 August 1912 in Chicago, Illinois, died 15 December 1994 San Diego, California (married and divorced, Martin A. Sullivan) and Virginia Ruth Casterton born 17 February 1917 in Chicago, Illinois (living). (married William Campbell Moyer). 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 watercolor miniatures. William died 9 February 1948 in Evanston, Illinois, after which she moved to Montana to care for her older sister Bertha Nemoede McBride (1861–1957). She was also the great, great aunt of Valley Entertainment Monthly publisher William Nemoede.
At the age of eighty-nine she was still earning her living doing portraits. Due to concern regarding her advancing age, Nemoede's daughter Virginia Casterton Moyer convinced her to relocate to California. She died 15 November 1969, at Palos Verdes Estates, California, aged 92 years old.
Nemoede received Honorable Mention at the International Art Union (Paris) in 1907 and 1908 and was awarded a Silver Medal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915[11] and a Bronze medal at the Sesqui-Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia of 1926.
Nemoede was a member of the American Society of Miniature Painters, British Royal Society of Miniature Painters[12], and the Pennsylvania and Chicago Societies of Miniature Painters.
She was a longtime Christian Scientist.