Sloatsburg, New York, painted by Edith Varian Cockcroft in 1928, via Wikipedia.

The Friends of Harmony Hall hold a salon room lecture by historian and writer Eve M. Kahn on Sunday, October 14, from 2-4 p.m. Kahn will discuss one-time Sloatsburg resident and artist Edith Varian Cockcroft, who was a nationally renowned painter, couturier, textile designer, and ceramist who moved to the Village in the early 1930s.

Kahn has uncovered interviews with Cockcroft and reminiscences from people who knew her and the Harmony Hall lecture will cover some of that material, along with a small exhibition of Cockcroft’s artworks.

A Brooklyn native, Cockcroft studied art with William Merritt Chase and traveled widely in Europe before World War I. Critics lauded her atmospheric views of French and British coastal villages and portraits of nudes against vibrant fabric backdrops. She exhibited at venues including the Paris Salon, the National Academy of Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago.

In the 1930s, Cockcroft moved to a house overlooking the Ramapo River in Sloatsburg, where she kept painting—from Europe to Haiti—and designing textiles while also producing dinnerware sets in metallic glazes. Cockcroft died in Sloatsburg in 1962.

Visit the Harmony Hall website for details about the October 14. Refreshments will be served.

Press contact: Eve Kahn,