Kyra Markham (â€") was an actress, figurative painter and printmaker.
Markham was briefly married to the architect Lloyd Wright, and five
years later, married the scenographer David Stoner Gaither. She worked
for the Federal Arts Project, creating works of social realism that
documented American life in the s. During World War II, her art was
focused on the propaganda effort against the Nazis.Markham was born
Elaine Hyman in Chicago, Illinois. She studied drawing at the Chicago
Art Institute from to , and subsequently worked as a muralist and
printmaker.In addition to her work as an artist, Markham was an
accomplished actress. She appeared with the Chicago Little Theater
from to the s, with the Provincetown Players from , and in movies in
Los Angeles. She lived with the author and playwright Theodore Dreiser
in Greenwich Village from -, helping him with his writing, editing,
and typing. Through Dreiser she became acquainted with H.L Mencken,
Edgar Lee Masters, and other writers. Due to Dreiser’s womanizing
tendencies, Markham left him in and moved to Provincetown to escape
his desperate pleas of reconciliation. While there, Markham continued
acting alongside George Cram Cook, Susan Giaspell, and Eugene
O’Neill, who founded the Provincetown Playhouse. During this early
stage, Markham supported herself by making bookjackets and
illustrations, and later working as an art director for film companies
like Fox and Metro.In she married the architect Lloyd Wright and
briefly had Frank Lloyd Wright as a father-in-law. In , she married
David Gaither and collaborated with him on the set design for a
children's play, The Forest Ring, staged at the Roerich Museum Theatre
in . Gaither encouraged Markham to pursue "her first love, painting."
Markham returned to the Art Students League in New York City in ,
where she studied with Alexander Abels. Before the stock market crash,
Markham was a successful bathroom muralist. From the s until the
Depression she obtained commercial commissions from clubs and
restaurants.
Markham was briefly married to the architect Lloyd Wright, and five
years later, married the scenographer David Stoner Gaither. She worked
for the Federal Arts Project, creating works of social realism that
documented American life in the s. During World War II, her art was
focused on the propaganda effort against the Nazis.Markham was born
Elaine Hyman in Chicago, Illinois. She studied drawing at the Chicago
Art Institute from to , and subsequently worked as a muralist and
printmaker.In addition to her work as an artist, Markham was an
accomplished actress. She appeared with the Chicago Little Theater
from to the s, with the Provincetown Players from , and in movies in
Los Angeles. She lived with the author and playwright Theodore Dreiser
in Greenwich Village from -, helping him with his writing, editing,
and typing. Through Dreiser she became acquainted with H.L Mencken,
Edgar Lee Masters, and other writers. Due to Dreiser’s womanizing
tendencies, Markham left him in and moved to Provincetown to escape
his desperate pleas of reconciliation. While there, Markham continued
acting alongside George Cram Cook, Susan Giaspell, and Eugene
O’Neill, who founded the Provincetown Playhouse. During this early
stage, Markham supported herself by making bookjackets and
illustrations, and later working as an art director for film companies
like Fox and Metro.In she married the architect Lloyd Wright and
briefly had Frank Lloyd Wright as a father-in-law. In , she married
David Gaither and collaborated with him on the set design for a
children's play, The Forest Ring, staged at the Roerich Museum Theatre
in . Gaither encouraged Markham to pursue "her first love, painting."
Markham returned to the Art Students League in New York City in ,
where she studied with Alexander Abels. Before the stock market crash,
Markham was a successful bathroom muralist. From the s until the
Depression she obtained commercial commissions from clubs and
restaurants.
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