Irene Rice Pereira, 1902-1971

I. (Irene) Rice Pereira was born Irene Rice on August 5, 1902, in Chelsea, Massachusetts (see 1, below). Her parents were Hilda (Vanderbilt) and Emery Rice (see 2, below); she had two sisters, Juanita and Dorothy, and a brother, James. The family lived in Chelsea, Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and Boston, all in Massachusetts, before moving to Brooklyn, New York, where Irene attended high school. She studied at the Art Students' League in New York, and in 1929 married Humberto Pereira, a commercial artist.

In 1931 IRP traveled in Europe and North Africa; she later regarded the North Africa trip as influential in the development of her art. She was divorced from Humberto Pereira in 1938, married George Wellington Brown in 1942, and divorced him in 1950. She was married to George Reavey from 1950 to 1959. She continued to use "I. Rice Pereira" as her professional name throughout her life.

1. Herrick Jackson notes in his typescript I. Rice Pereira, Vol. I., p. 130-13, that he obtained the birth year of 1902 from Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics (Vol. 523, p. 371 of birth records for Boston). This is not the year given in Notable American Women or in IRP`s obituaries, nor is it the date IRP herself gave to inquirers; 1907 or 1905 is usually been given as the year of birth.

2. The father's name is given as Emanuel in Notable American Women and as Emery in Jackson's typescript.

Known and written about primarily as a painter, IRP was also a poet and philosopher. She published several books privately; some were issued or re-issued by art museums. For additional biographical information see Notable American Women, The Modern Period, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1980, pp. 534-35. A two-volume typescript, I. Rice Pereira, by Herrick Jackson, is available at the Schlesinger Library; it includes a chronology of events in IRP's life, a list of exhibitions, a catalog of her art works (listed both alphabetically by title and chronologically by year), biographical information, and a discussion of her art and her philosophy.

From the guide to the Papers, 1929-1976, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)