Anne Poor (1918–2002) grew up with talented parents. Her mother, Bessie Breuer, was a journalist, playwright, and novelist, and her stepfather, Henry Varnum Poor, was one of the founders of the Skowhegan School of Art and Sculpture. Poor’s formal art education began in high school when she attended the Arts Students League. She then went on to study at Bennington College. In 1937, Poor studied abroad in Paris with Fernand Léger and Jean Lurçat. Upon her return in 1983, she left Bennington to assist Henry Varnum Poor on frescoes at Pennsylvania State University and in Washington for the United States Justice Department and the Department of the Interior. She also created several post office murals under the Public Works Administration. In 1943, she enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps, and became the only woman artist in the US Armed Forces during World War II. After her discharge, Henry Varnum Poor got her involved at the Skowhegan School of Art and Sculpture where she lectured about her war artwork (Moore). Poor stayed at the school and became a faculty member (1947–61) and served on the board of trustees (1963–83). In 1949, she painted an outdoor fresco on the grounds of the SSPS (unfortunately today very damaged). In the post-war period, Poor became interested in landscape painting again. Her works are in important collections, such as the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art (Cotter), and the Colby College Museum of Art. She was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and of the National Academy of Design and won many awards such as the first prize in the National Army Arts Contest in 1944, the Abbey Memorial Fellowship in 1948, and the National Institute of Arts and American Letters Award in 1957.
—Katie Roy
- Cotter, Holland. “Anne Poor, Painter of War and Landscape.” New York Times 20 January 2002.
- Cummings, Mildred H. South Solon: The Story of a Meeting House. South Solon, Maine: South Solon Historical Society, 1959.
- Moore, Sylvia. “Anne Poor.” Woman’s Art Journal 2.2 (1981): 50–53.
- Resika, Paul. “Anne Poor.” American Academy of Arts and Letters.
- Wikipedia. “Anne Poor.”