Mystery surrounds the identity of Justine E. Fuller, whose online presence appears to be one of an artist who had two entirely different styles -- that of an Expressionist printmaker with classical training, and that of an oil painter who worked strictly in a Naive style at the same time. 

What we do know is that the person who printed the lithograph in the Annex Galleries' inventory was an American artist whose style is influenced by both American Realism and Expressionism. Another lithograph by her from 1940 in the same style, titled "Lamia," is held at the Detroit Institute of Art under the name Justine Emerson Fuller. There are no dates given by the museum. When researching "Justine Emerson Fuller" on ancestry sites, this same artwork is used in reference to a woman with a U.S. Consular birth certificate stating that she was born on June 8, 1918, in Bangkok, Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand) to missionary parents. Records show that Fuller, age three, arrived in Hong Kong from Bangkok on a ship bound for San Francisco in 1922; then in 1929 arrived in London, England from Bangkok on a ship bound for New York; and again, departed from England in 1936 for New York. There is no official death date given for Justine Emerson Fuller.

As for the Naive painter known only as Justine Fuller, her birthdate is stated as 1925, but also born in Bangkok to missionary parents, with a death date of February 12, 1965. She married the artist Marcell Iodice (1914-1955) in September of 1952.

Is this the same person, whose birth ceritifcate -- or birth date on later forms -- was altered for unknown reasons? If you have any clues as to the life and career of Justine E. Fuller, please contact the gallery at (707) 546-7352, or at artannex@aol.com.