Kenneth R. Nunamaker

Kenneth Nunamaker, born in Akron, Ohio, was a leading member of the New Hope School.  Best known for his atmospheric Impressionist landscapes, he began painting as a teenager while traveling west and working as a cattle herder. He moved to Philadelphia in 1918, where he became art director of Hoedt Studios, and five years later settled in Center Bridge, Pennsylvania, forging close ties with the New Hope artists.[1]

Edward W. Redfield became his mentor and introduced him to fellow painters such as Daniel Garber. Though Nunamaker never received formal art training, he credited his commercial work with teaching him the fundamentals of design, form, color, and composition, while his deepest inspiration came from direct observation of nature.

In 1945, he opened a Philadelphia studio with his son Alfred, who would also join the Pennsylvania Impressionists. Over the course of his career, Nunamaker exhibited widely, including at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the International Gallery in Venice, the Corcoran Gallery, the National Academy of Design, and the Salmagundi Club. 

[1] James M. Alterman, New Hope for American Art: A Comprehensive Showing of Important 20th Century Painting from and Surrounding the New Hope Art Colony (Lambertville, NJ: Jims of Lambertville, 2005), 362-63.