Trude Hanscom, "The Tempest"

TRUDE HANSCOM

The Tempest
Drypoint, 1952

Trude Hanscom was known primarily as a graphic artist who practiced her art in California. She was born Gertrude Fandrich in Oil City, PA on December 6, 1890.
She grew up in Waterloo, NY, and studied art at Syracuse University. About 1930 she moved to California, where she married Charles Hanscom. Her etchings, aquatints, and drypoints depict southern California landscapes. She did a series of works on Los Angeles’ Chinatown, and drew portraits and Indian genre scenes during trips to New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. She sketched Mexican children on frequent visits there. Trude Hanscom studied art at many schools in California, including Scripps College, Claremont, Otis Art Institute, and several universities in the Los Angeles area. While working on her own art, Hanscom taught art to private students and in the public schools of Alhambra, Glendale and San Gabriel. She exhibited works in galleries and shows including the Golden Gate International Exposition, Society of American Etchers in New York, the Royal Academy in London, and various art venues in California. In 1965 she received an honorary life membership in the Society of American Graphic Artists. Trude Hanscom died in a Santa Barbara retirement home on June 7, 1975.

Biographical information is from AskART and The Annex Galleries, online.

--Lois Smalley and Kathleen Durham