Curry Mansion Portrait by Stephen LaPierre: Pre-Irma Art
In this 2010 oil painting, Key West artist, Stephen LaPierre, captured Edith Amsterdam’s beloved Curry Mansion, along with her ’67 four-door Lincoln Continental convertible.
A Key West icon, Mrs. Amsterdam died in February of 2016, at the beginning of her 93rd year. That once-in-a-lifetime Continental of hers had been put to rest a few years earlier. And when Irma blew through town this past September, the category four hurricane took down Mrs. Amsterdam’s huge and gorgeous sacred fig tree, out front on Caroline.
Thankfully, Stephen LaPierre’s 16” x 20” portrait gives us a tangible memory of Curry Mansion’s ever-gracious, lively and charitable grand dame, along with her luscious tropical home, the sacred fig and the near-sacred Lincoln Continental.
LaPierre’s Curry Mansion piece will be put on the auction block next month at the Anne McKee annual art auction, to be held at The Studios of Key West.
Curry Mansion was one of sixty plein air pieces of Key West architecture included in LaPierre’s one-man show, that opened on December 12, 2012, in the main gallery of the Key West Arts and Historical Society’s Custom House Museum.
LaPierre, a two-time recipient of a McKee Artists’ award (2012 and 2013), currently divides his time between the Rocky Neck Art Colony in Gloucester, MA , and his beloved Key West.
We love the Curry mansion and visit it several times a year. Sadly Edith is no longer a part of it but Patsy and Phil are taking great care of it. Unlike most places they make you feel welcome. To anyone that has not seen it they should take a.tour of it. This is our second home and is the only place we will stay when in Key West. Edith helped me to believe that even in late years life can still stay great. She will never be forgotten.