Annie Harmon (1855-1930)

Annie Lyle Harmon often signed her small paintings with only her initials. I have had dozens of them in the past 42 years. Here is Harmon’s entry as it will appear in my third edition: HARMON, Annie Lyle (1855-1930). Landscape painter. Born in San Francisco, CA in February 1855. Annie’s parents were natives of Maine who had come to California with the Gold Rush and established a lumber business. During the 1880s she studied locally with Raymond Yelland and Wm Keith. (Her brother married Keith’s only daughter.)

During the 1890s she maintained a studio in San Francisco at 20 Ellis Street and for many years was a resident at 841 Shrader. The fire following the earthquake in 1906 destroyed 480 of her paintings making her early works scarce. Primarily an oil painter of bucolic scenes of the San Francisco Bay area, the influence of Keith is seen in her work.

Most of her early paintings were on canvas; whereas, her later works were often miniatures on cigar box tops. Her signature is most often a monogram of the confluent letters ALH.

A spinster and lifelong resident of San Francisco, she died on Aug. 27, 1930.

Exhibited: San Francisco Art Ass’n, 1885-1913; Mechanics’ Institute (SF), 1886-97; World’s Columbian Expo (Chicago), 1893; California Midwinter Int’l Expo, 1894; California State Fair, 1895-1902; Starr King Fraternity, 1905;
Alaska-Yukon Expo (Seattle), 1909.

Works held: Orange County (CA) Museum.

Submitted October, 2002, by Edan Hughes, author of “Artists in California, 1786-1940”