Louis L. Betts

Louis Betts, known principally as a portrait painter, was born on October 5, 1873 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He spent his boyhood, however, and much of his long life in Chicago. His first art training was with his father, Edwin D. Betts, a landscape painter, and this was followed by a year at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under William Merritt Chase. When Betts won the Cresson traveling fellowship at the Academy in 1902, it was Chase who advised his studying the work of Frans Hals in Holland and Velazquez in Spain. Chase also introduced Betts to European clients which resulted in lucrative portrait commissions. He wrote "Experiences of a Portrait Painter" which appeared in three installments in the British periodical Artist during 1957. He lived his last years in New York where he died on August 13, 1961.Corcoran Gallery of Art American Paintings catalogOn his return to the U.S. his work was in constant demand, and his sitters includes such public figures as Dr. Charles H. Mayo, Dr. William J. Mayo, the art critic, Royal Cortissoz, Booth Tarkington and George Eastman. Betts was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and of the National Academy from which he received many honors. 2nd reference:Born in Little Rock in 1873, Betts was the son of Edwin Daniel Betts, a painter, and Anna Betts, also an artist. At the age of 13, he began to paint, learning first from his father. According to a newspaper article from 1930, the portrait Professor Armellini was made by Louis Betts when the artist was only 16 years old. It was given to the sitter in exchange for violin lessons that Betts had recently been given. Incidentally, the account was recalled when the painting was given by Frank Armellini, the sitter's nephew, to the Fine Arts Club of Little Rock, the founders of the Arkansas Arts Center. When the family left Little Rock for Chicago sometime in the early 1890s, Betts studied at the Art Institute of Chicago under William Merritt Chase, a successful and well-known teacher and painter. In 1902, he enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and continued his study with Chase. Following this instruction, he received a traveling scholarship that enabled him to tour Europe during the years 1903-05. Among the more memorable sights for him were the portraits of the 17th century painters Frans Hals and Diego Velasquez. These Baroque artists had reputations as portrait painters to the wealthy and powerful. Ultimately, Betts would follow their example and receive commissions from the likes of Matilda Dodge Wilson, widow of the automobile tycoon and her second husband. Other famous sitters painted by Betts include George Eastman, the painter Gifford Beal, Dr. William J. Mayo and dozens of others. Currently Betts work can be found in many prestigious museums in the U.S. including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smithsonian Institution, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the National Academy of Design.