Lady of the Camellias

I don’t know about you but one of the joys of winter in Georgia is the blooming of the camellias and mine are really showing out this year.  Make plans now to attend the Camellia Festival which lasts the whole month of February at Massee Lane Gardens between Marshallville and Fort Valley.  Check it out at www.americancamellias.com to see all the activities.  Walking through the gardens is an absolute joy!

I have always enjoyed pictures of camellias and magnolias by artist Lila Moore Keen and I was delighted to recently find out that she is a native Georgian.  While preparing for the liquidation sale at the New Perry Hotel years ago, we came across several pictures that had labels on the back that said they had been framed by Lila Moore Keen so I decided to look this lady up online.

Lila was born in Cleveland, Georgia and was fascinated with a sister’s little box of paints so she decided to borrow them and taught herself to paint at the age of twelve.  She was a natural born artist and was fascinated with her native Georgia flowers.  She later attended Agnes Scott College in Decatur.

Lila married the son of one of the founders of Farmers and Merchants bank, James Keen and moved to Dublin, Georgia. Lila became a well-known artist across the country painting landscapes and portraits but people especially loved her paintings of camellias and she quickly became known as the “Lady of the Camellias”.  Her camellia paintings were showcased in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. and she was honored by the American Camellia Society as her artwork often graced the covers of their monthly magazine.

Lila Moore Keen original prints can bring around $1000.  There is currently an exhibit of many of her works that were donated by her family at the Dublin Carnegie in Dublin through July 1. 

These beautiful vibrant paintings are well loved by not only Southerners but people around the world.   Lila would often search the gardens of friends to find the perfect examples of camellias and magnolias.  Later in life she married Claude Bennet but still used her maiden name.  She operated galleries in Charleston, South Carolina and Highpoint, North Carolina.  The latter is where the prints we found in the hotel came from.

Lila worked in oil and watercolor paints and appeared at galleries all over the country and often painted portraits of her children’s friends who complained that she included their freckles in the paintings!

Lila passed away in 1963 but her paintings live on in homes and art galleries everywhere.  I hope you will take a look at some of these Southern treasures on your favorite search engine.  Merry Christmas and Happy Collecting!

Jillinda Falen has been buying and selling antiques for over 40 years and is a licensed REALTOR and estate liquidation specialist.  You can contact her through the Houston Home Journal or via email at jcfalen@gmail.com.