My precious friend Russell Hooper recently celebrated the life of Eleanor Ritchey Cheek Plaxico and posted a photo of her portrait on his Facebook timeline. The painting took my breath away. It's glorious!
I was not acquainted with Eleanor Ritchey Cheek Plaxico, but was compelled to do a little research. From her obituary I learned...
Affectionately known as "Gaga," died at the age of 95 on March 28, 2017, in Franklin, Tennessee, at NHC.
Ms. Plaxico was born on December 6, 1921, in Nashville, Tennessee. She was a kind and genteel woman who devoted her life to serving her community. She was a sustainer of the Junior League of Nashville, and member of Cheekwood and Centennial Club. She was one of the original founders of the Nashville Humane Association, a cause especially dear to her. She often drove through Nashville in search of stray dogs for whom she found loving homes.
Ms. Plaxico had a zeal for life. She enjoyed dancing, shopping, dining, and the occasional dirty Martini. She was passionate about fashion and always meticulously dressed. She enjoyed frequenting the Belle Meade Country Club and Cheekwood with lifelong friends and family. She always derived great pleasure bringing joy and happiness to everyone around her. Ms. Plaxico is at peace and in the loving presence of her husband, Charlie; son, Cal; and, animals that she so dearly loved.
The family requests that any donations made on Ms. Plaxico's behalf be made to Nashville Humane Association.
I regret never having the opportunity to meet her. What a life well lived!!!
Russell also introduced me to a painter whom I was not familiar with, Howard Chandler Christy. Or so I thought. I have a magnet on my refrigerator of one of his paintings.
Howard Chandler Christy (January 10, 1872 – March 3, 1952) was an American artist famous for the "Christy Girl" – a colorful and illustrious successor to the "Gibson Girl" – who became the most popular portrait painter of the Jazz Age era.
Christy painted such luminaries as Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt and Presidents Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, and Truman. Other famous people include William Randolph Hearst, the Prince of Wales (Edward the VIII), Eddie Rickenbacker, Benito Mussolini, Prince Umberto, Amelia Earhart.
From the 1920s until the 1940s, Christy was well known for capturing the likenesses of congressmen, senators, industrialists, movies stars, and socialites, including our Ms. Eleanor.
Thank you for the inspiration!!
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