Cameron Booth: Minnesota Master

Biography

Cameron Booth was born in 1892 in Erie, Pennsylvania. After moving several times, his family settled in Moorhead, Minnesota, where Booth graduated from high school in 1912. During his studies at the Art Institute of Chicago, Booth was introduced to the work of Picasso, Cezanne, and Braque, as well as Post-Impressionism and Italian Primitives.

Drafted into the army in 1917, Booth was in France when World War I ended. He stayed and studied with the Mexican cubist Angelo Zaraga, supporting himself in part by selling his sketches and portraits. Booth returned to Minnesota in 1921, teaching for a time at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design before moving to the Leech Lake Reservation at Onigum. There, Booth began sketching and painting northern Minnesota landscapes and scenes of Ojibwe Indian life.

Booth’s oil paintings won recognition at the Minnesota State Art Society and were presented in the Annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture in Chicago. He was commissioned for painting installations and regularly presented his work in exhibitions and competitions.

After a return to Europe to study with Andre L’hote in Paris and Hans Hoffman’s school on the Italian Island of Capri, Booth continued teaching in Minneapolis and became director of the St. Paul Gallery and School of Art in 1931. During the 1930s he led the Public Works of Art Project to provide employment to artists, and in 1942 he won a Guggenheim fellowship. He traveled and exhibited throughout the American West and in New York, and taught at the University of Minnesota. He died in 1980.

Cameron Booth’s Paintings

Booth’s works include Minnesota landscapes, portraits, and pictures of animals, especially horses. He often used color and rough brushstrokes to convey emotion and movement, and worked in many painting media, from oil with gouache to watercolor and acrylic.

His work is included in the collections of many institutes and galleries, including the Bertha Schafer Gallery in New York, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The Market for Cameron Booth Paintings

Booth’s paintings have a consistent market and are often sold for prices in the four figures. The price for his paintings is usually dependent on their intricacy and size; among his portraits, the pictures with horses are often in demand, as are many of his abstract paintings.

Revere Auctions Sells Your Cameron Booth Paintings

Revere Auctions can help you sell your Cameron Booth paintings at auction for the best possible price. Our experts at Revere Auctions have years of experience selling Cameron Booth art pieces. We are ready to help you with any stage of your art journey, whether you are looking for an estimate of value, a USPAP certified appraisal, art restoration, or an effortless way to sell your art. We advertise our sales on more auction platforms than any other auction house in America, and regularly achieve record prices for our objects. If you are interested in selling with us, please reach out for a free online appraisal of your piece today.

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