Baltimore Museum of Art: The Presence of Women

Having previously mentioned the concerted effort of the Baltimore Museum of Art to share a diverse and representative selection of works, allow me to share 5 paintings by women whose talents I would never have been aware of save for this egalitarian approach to ART.  The works span a life--70 years from 1884 to 1954.

"The New Model," circa 1884

Rosalie Lorraine Gill, 1867 - 1898

AMERICAN

We are in the intimate studio of William Merritt Chase, one of the most prolific, celebrated and sought after American impressionist artists of his era.  He not only painted, he also taught painting for many years at a school he initially christened the Chase School, but that when on to become the Parsons School of Design today.  He hobnobbed with some of the most successful artists of the turn of 20th Century, and among the thousands of his students over the years was one, Georgia O'Keeffe.  Somewhere in the milieu, Rosalie Loraine Gill showed up.  

She began her studies at age 12.  She went on to great success both in the United States where she exhibited at the The National Academy of Design and The Society of American Artists in 1884, AND at the World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893.  By the early 1880's, she'd established a residence in Paris where she also found success with paintings shown in the Paris Salon in 1888, and the next year at the Exhibition Universelle in Paris.  

She split her time between New York, Paris and Baltimore where she'd established gallery agents.  In 1897 she married Rene Lara receiving the honorific "Countess of Chabau".  Less than four months later, on January 26, 1989, she died of unknown causes, and she was buried the next day

In consideration of the subject matter of the painting, it is an intriguing passing of the torch.  

"Theater Posters, Ikao, Japan," 1900

Lilla Cabot Perry, 1848 - 1933

AMERICAN

Full disclosure, I once had the tremendous honor of co-teaching an adult Bible Study with a distant cousin of Lydia "Lilla" Cabot Perry.  She knew her as a child.  Lilla was born into a Boston Brahman heritage and benefitted widely from the connections such a start in life offers.  She grew up knowing the company of Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson and James Russell Lowell--the later of which was a relative on her mother's side. 

Never in want of money, the death of her father opened up even more unfettered opportunities including studying in Paris where she developed a close friendship with Camille Pissarro.  Her career took her again and again to France, back to Japan and in the most exclusive circles in the United States.  At the time of her death, in 1933, she'd participated in nine prestigious exhibitions beginning with the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition.

"Peonies," circa 1918

Margrethe Jensen, 1876 - 1926

NORWEGIAN

Her death at 50 shocked the local art community of Oslo, of which, she had played an ever important roll in since her latter 30's.  Trained in the most prestigious art school of the era in Oslo, she eventually did what so many in her generation did.  She eloped to Paris in the late days of the 19th century.  What she did in Paris, with whom and to what outcome remain lost to history.  What we do know is that she returned to Oslo around the time of the start of the First World War.  

Among her contemporaries, Edvard Munch was probably the closest and most recognizable.  Though considered a prolific painter, "Peonies" is the only work by Jensen that is on display in a major museum of art.  At the Baltimore Museum of Art, the work is part of the seminal Cohen Collection.

"Michael Greenwood At Pett Rectory," 1950

Sylvia Sleigh, 1916 - 2010

WELSH-AMERICAN

After being born in Wales, she grew up to attend formal art training in London.  There she met her first husband, fellow artists, Michael Greenwood.  This painting is an example of her budding overt feminist approach to art.  By posing him on a couch in an "odalisque" manner.  The more she evolved, the more she expressed her reason d'etre in placing men in vulnerable and submissive poses.  This peaked in the 1970's-80's with a series of works derivative of classic compositions where nude women were replaced by nude men.

Her activism blossomed into support of many women's art collectives, and culminated in her own collecting of artworks created by women.  From philanthropy to patronage, Sleigh dedicated both her life and resources to elevating women in the arts.

"Neighbor's Pride," 1954

Helen Louise Beccard, 1903 - 1994
AMERICAN

Assignment:  I've told you about four amazing female artists nearly lost to history.  Discover this one on your own!  Do the Google thing if you care.  Tell me what you find and what resonates with you.