A Life in Bloom: The Floral Paintings of Julia McEntee Dillon is a focused monographic exhibition that presents the career of one of the most admired yet underrecognized American painters of the nineteenth century. During her lifetime, Julia McEntee Dillon (1834–1919) was regarded as “the greatest living flower painter” in the United States, praised for works that were described as “brilliant in hues, admirably drawn, and composed with a fine appreciation of the effect of large masses of colors.” 

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Born near Kingston, New York, Dillon developed her artistic practice within a vibrant regional network of artists and patrons. She worked in the studio of her cousin, Hudson River School painter Jervis McEntee. Dillon elevated floral painting into a sophisticated and expressive form—creating compositions featuring peonies, roses, and chrysanthemums so vividly rendered that critics remarked they “almost seem to have an odor in them.” Bringing together thirty-two paintings from public and private collections, A Life in Bloom offers one of the most comprehensive presentations of Dillon’s work.