Maria Oakey Dewing. Maria Oakey Dewing was an American painter known for her depiction of flowers.
   Her work was inspired by John La Farge and her love of gardening. She also made figure drawings and was a founding member of the Art Students League of New York.
   Dewing won bronze medals for two of her works at world expositions. She was married to the artist Thomas Dewing.
   Maria Richards Oakey was born in New York City, the fifth child of William Francis Oakey and Sally Sullivan Oakey, who had ten children together. William was an importer, and was also interested in the arts, Sally was a cultured woman and writer who came from a wealthy family from Boston.
   Her younger brother, Alexander F. Oakey, was an architect with, like his sister, an interest in textiles. He wrote The Art of Life and Life of Art in 1884. She decided at age seventeen to paint. In 1881 Maria Oakey married Thomas Dewing, whose career was less well established. After that, she was disappointed in her career. As the wife of one of the most prominent figure painters of the day, she felt unable to compete with her husband. At the end of her life, Dewing, expressed doubt in her accomplishments and regret for what she had given up: I have hardly touched any achievement They had a son who died while an infant. In 1885 their daughter Elizabeth was born. She first attended the Cooper Union School of Design in 1866, studying there until 18
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