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Biographical Information

We refer to Nellie(sometimes spelled Nelly) Littlehale, Nellie Littlehale Umbstaetter, and Nellie Littlehale Murphy mostly in these pages merely as either "Nellie" or "Nellie Littlehale". With her two different married names, it can sometimes get confusing, AND add into that that sometimes her name is spelled "Nelly" instead of "Nellie", it can be even more confusing. Our first encounter with her name was as "Nellie Littlehale Umbstaetter" and so we have made the reference to her with that spelling of her first name. The different last names, generally, reflect different periods in her works as well, as you will see, so please take a look over these "Nellie" pages and do enjoy!

We are basing our information on her from various reference sources, but for the most part, it has been horribly difficult to find information on her and her works, so we are limited in details. We are providing as much information as we can here, but we realize it is not complete, nor may it be 100% accurate in all places. We do hope to expand these pages in time and hopefully we can all learn more about the life and art of Nellie Littlehale!

Nellie Littlehale was born in Stockton, California on May 07, 1867

She died in Lexington, Massachusetts on May 12, 1941

She was married to Herman Daniel Umbstaetter in 1893.

She later married painter Hermann Dudley Murphy in 1916.

Nellie was a painter, illustrator, and etcher, noted for her watercolor paintings of landscapes and flowers, as well as children's style work. She mostly lived and exhibited in the Massachusetts area.

Her early works that we have seen mostly seem to have been done for a "children's" type market. Whether she was widely an illustrator of "children's" illustrations, books, or what we are not fully aware. Her early work is certainly delightful and charming and almost seems to possess an "aura of story" in its very nature! It would have made sense for her work to go with text for children but we have not seen the combination of the two yet, though we would not be surprised that some exists(or existed).

Even her later works, which, from what we have seen, concentrated mostly on landscapes and/or still lifes also were done with strokes that are very evidently "Nellie". There is most definitely a "feel" in her later works that her "touch" was as delicate and sensitive to her subjects as her early works!

We are aware of two "exhibits" featuring Nellie's works. One was in Chicago in the early 20s, which coincided with a Hermann Dudley Murphy exhibit there. In 1942 there was also apparently a "memorial" exhibit of Nellie's works. We are not sure where this one was held.

We are not aware of details of her early life, or really any details of her life, other than what we have noted. We do not know how or when she migrated from California to Massachusetts, but apparently most of her adult life was spent in and/or around the latter. Even the Geo. L. Shuman books(Wonder World Series) had operations in Massachusetts, so that connection made sense.

We are not aware of the details of her first marriage, whether it ended in death or divorce, but we do know that her second husband was Hermann Dudley Murphy, a well known Boston area painter.

We certainly wish we knew more, not only so we could know more about Nellie and her work, but also so that we could share that with others. In time, hopefully we can add more information AND samples of her work to these pages! If anyone knows of any information on Nellie, PLEASE drop us a line via our email or contact information.

[NELLIE LITTLEHALE] [BIOGRAPHICAL INFO.] [EARLY WORKS] [LATER WORKS] [WONDER WORLD BOOKS]

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