Marion Coffey

THE GALLERY WOULD WELCOME OTHER PHOTOS OF MS. COFFEY, AS WELL AS PAINTINGS BY HER FOR SALE. CONTACT THE GALLERY AT: info@GalleryofWisconsinArt.com

BORN: 1924, Milwaukee

DIED: Dec. 29, 2011, Milwaukee

Marion (Kunzelmann) Coffey started drawing at age 3. Encouraged by her mother, she would sit for hours and draw.

At about 12, her and her mother moved to Chicago. She went on to study painting at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Fontainebleau School of Fine Art in France. She saw the work of other artists and made many of their discoveries her own. Deeply influenced by French Fauve painters and German Expressionists, color became her way of capturing a subject and communicating it's sensations.

In the 1940s, she landed a job in Chicago at a Michigan Ave. studio as a commercial illustrator. She was their first female illustrator, working in a department of men for clients that included Coca-Cola, Sears, RCA and Motorola.

In her 20s, Coffey and her mother returned to Wisconsin, where Coffey also worked for a time as a commercial illustrator.

Instead of painting what others wanted, she painted the way she saw it. She soon became a fine art painter vs. a commercial illustrator. As a full-time, professional painter, she painted people's homes, rolling fields and farms, and Milwaukee's cityscapes.

Balancing home and profession, Marion created a significant body of bright, rich, paintings in acrylic and oil on canvas and paper. Her subjects include landscapes and harbors, flowers and interiors, cityscapes, occasionally figures. Over the years, she transformed from a pioneering female commercial artist into a sophisticated fine artist with a sophisticated understanding of European and American visual trends. 

Her brilliantly hued paintings are wonderfully optimistic, and joyfully expressive. She frequently donated her work to charitable causes, including the Penfield Children's Center, the Hunger Task Force and Boerner Botanical Gardens.

Photo Credit: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel