Ernest D. Roth

Ernest D. Roth (1879-1964), a prominent painter and printmaker, was born on January 17, 1879, in Stuttgart, Germany. At the age of five, he and his family immigrated to the United States. Roth gained recognition for his paintings and etchings of New York City, Venice, Italy, and Spain. He studied painting at the National Academy of Design under Edgar Ward and George Maynard and at the New York School of Art with F. Luis Mora. His etching techniques were refined under the guidance of James David Smillie.

Roth was an active member of several art organizations, including the Salmagundi Club, the American Water Color Society, the New York Water Color Club, the Brooklyn Society of Etchers, the Chicago Society of Etchers, and the Print Makers Society of California. He was also a life member of the National Arts Club. He achieved notable positions as an Associate of the National Academy of Design in 1920 and became a National Academician in 1928.

Throughout his career, Roth received numerous awards, such as the Silver Medal for etching and the Bronze Medal for painting at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. He won the Samuel T. Shaw Prizes for etching at the Salmagundi Club in 1911, 1912, and 1916; the Saltus Landscape Prize for painting at the Salmagundi Club in 1915; 1st Honorable Mention for painting at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1916; 1st Prize at the Chicago Society of Etchers in 1915; Logan Medals from the Chicago Society of Etchers in 1917 and 1918; the Bryan Prize for Best American Print at the Print Makers Society of California's annual exhibition in 1922; and the Isador Prize in drawing from the Salmagundi Club in 1923.

Roth's works are held in numerous prestigious collections, including the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio, the Carnegie Art Museum, the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Mobile Museum of Art in Alabama, the National Academy of Design in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Missouri, the Newark Public Library, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Brooklyn Museum, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Roth lived and worked in Manhattan before relocating to West Redding, Connecticut. He passed away on August 20, 1964, at the age of 85, while visiting friends in Cambridge, New York.