Contrasts That Complement: Eileen Monaghan Whitaker and Frederic Whitaker

A comprehensive survey of Frederic and Eileen Monaghan Whitakers' watercolor production, including an extensive, insightful biography prepared by Jan Norens Jennings, a journalist, art writer, and longtime friend of the painters. Also includes essays by nationally recognized art writers, Donelson Hoopes, Robert L. Pincus, and Theodore F. Wolff. Illustrated with over 160 watercolor paintings, it stands as a splendid tribute to the diverse work of the Whitakers. Frederic Whitaker and Eileen Monaghan Whitaker had distinctly individual and contrary reasons for painting, but despite their differences, are among the most successful, revered, and respected artists in the history of American watercolor who thrived as a couple for more than thirty-seven years. Frederic Whitaker, often referred to as “Mr. Watercolor”, has won more than 150 awards for his watercolors, served as President for the American Watercolor Society for seven years, organized and served on the boards of numerous other national and regional art societies, written three books, Whitaker on Watercolor, Guide to Painting Better Pictures, and The Artist and the Real World. He is a recipient of the Horatio Alger Award as one who rose from humble beginnings to make a significant contribution to society. His paintings are in major museums, including the New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Boston's Fine Arts Museum. Eileen Whitaker has won more than 80 awards for her paintings, her illustrations are featured in Eileen Whitaker Paints San Diego, her paintings are in several museums and art institutions, including Seattle's Frye Art Museum and New York's National Academy of Design. Both artists have been featured in numerous books on watercolor painting, art magazines, newspaper reviews, and profiles. Essays by Donelson Hoopes, Robert L. Pincus, and Theodore F. Wolff, expound upon the Whitakers' steadfast allegiance to realism, cast the Whitakers as an extension of the great American watercolor tradition established in the nineteenth century, and reveal Frederic Whitaker's working method and artistic vision and Eileen Whitaker's imaginative style. Contrasts that Complement stands as a splendid tribute to the quality and rich diversity of this remarkable couple's combined artistic production.

Jan Noreus Jennings is art director of the Frederic Whitaker and Eileen Monaghan Whitaker Foundation. Other contributors are Donelson Hoopes, Robert L. Pincus, and Theodore F. Wolff.