Born: 1853 – Massena, New York
Died: 1927 – Winthrop Harbor, Illinois
Specialist in diseases of the eye and ear. Author of medical books and papers.
Landscape painter (oils, watercolor, pastels).
Exhibited with the Chicago Society of Artists, and at Chicago Art Institute.
Also it was during this period that Joseph began developing his avocation of painting. One of his early works, “The Marshes,” was hung in the Massena Public Library. After the death of his father, he moved his family to Chicago, where the third son, Joseph Elliott, Jr., was born in 1886. Dr. Colburn’s brother, Frank Alfred, came to Chicago in 1887 where he died in 1899. During his long medical career in Chicago, as a specialist in diseases of the eye and ear, he served in many capacities: opthamalmic surgeon in the Cook County Hospital, professor of opthalmology at Chicago Polyclinic, president of the Western Society of Opthalmology. He was the author of a book and of monographs in his specialty.
As a serious amateur painter, particularly of landscapes of New England and of the parks and forest preserves in the Chicago area, his work was exhibited at the Art Institute, and he served as vice president of the Chicago Society of Artists. He was one of the early members of The Cliff Dwellers. Dr. Colburn’s office was located at various addresses in The Loop and his residences were on the South Side, but in his later years he lived in Highland Park, and after his third marriage, in Winthrop Harbor.
After the death of Letitia, in 1898, he married Eleanor Gump, with a daughter from a previous marriage. An instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago, she gained a reputation for herself as a painter. After their divorce in 1914 she moved first to New Rochelle, NY, and then to Laguna Beach, CA, where she became a prominent member of the artists colony. She died in 1939. His third marriage, in 1915, was to Laura, sister of Henry Roecker, an architect and fellow member of the Cliff Dwellers. From about 1924 until his death in 1927, they lived in Winthrop Harbor in a house designed by his son George. She survived her husband.”
Paintings
Eleanor Colburn
Bio: https://schwartzcollection.com/artist/elanor-colburn/
Video of Elanor Colburn paintings: https://youtu.be/3gHchDGKKe4