Skip navigation

Three Figures

by Ella Jack

Watercolor on paper
Dimensions: 30 x 22
Purchased through a National Endowment for the Arts grant, 1972

Three Figures by Ella Jack

The Artwork

Using characteristics of expressionism, this figurative watercolor shows three children seemingly peering at the viewer. By abstracting the figures, the artist has created a composition that is intriguing through its simplicity.

The Artist

Born in Hiawatha, Kansas, Ella Jack earned her Bachelor of Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago and her Master of Arts from Claremont College in California. Jack also spent two years studying in Los Angeles at Chouinard Art Institute and Otis Art Institute. Though Jack taught at both Central State Teachers College (now the University of Central Oklahoma) and Kansas State Teachers College (now Emporia State University), she is best known for her influential career as Professor of Art at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical School (now Oklahoma State University). She was noted for her skill in the media of watercolor and exhibited across the U.S. and won many awards for her work.