TheBrandywine.com: ON THE HORIZON

An exhibition of the works of Delaware Women Artists at the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover, Delaware

March 8th – May 26th, 2002

Almost Forgotten: Delaware Women Artists of the Early 20th Century will open at the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover on March 8 2002, and close there through May 26, 2002. It then will travel to the First USA Riverfront Art Center in Wilmington and later will be shown in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, at the Rehoboth Art League from November 2002 until February 2003.

A thought-provoking exhibition of the work of Delaware women artists in the first half of the 20th-century, Almost Forgotten, is designed to treat the museum-going public to a remarkable yet largely overlooked body of work. The exhibition will place the works of both the women artists and arts patrons within the framework of national trends in women’s advancements in all areas of American society during this period. The women’s club movement, social reform, art education, and arts advocacy— along with the artworks themselves- are features of this significant exhibition and accompanying catalogue.

Artists included in the exhibit are: Gertrude Brincklé, Blanche Chloe Grant, Victorine duPont Homsey, Gertrude Kay, Ethel P. B. Leach, Mary Mullineux, Ethel Poyntell Canby Peets, Katherine Pyle, Margery Pyle, Bertha N. Riley, Frances Rogers, Olive Rush, Wuanita Smith, Virginia Yardley, Jeanette Solcomb Edwards, Eugenia Eckford Rhoads, Henryette Stadelman Whiteside, Clara Stat Finkelstein, and others. A variety of media will be represented – watercolors, etchings, oils, block prints, sculpture, etc. Other material such as historic photographs, journals, sketchbooks, and related items will be exhibited.

“The power and artistic gifts of Delaware women in the early part of the 20th century were enormous,” commented Karol Schmiegel, BMAA Executive Director. “Such artists as Ethel P.B. Leach, Olive Rush, and Wuanita Smith now, 50 to 75 years later, are coming into their own. Beyond such art world superstars as Georgia O’Keefe or Lee Krasner, scores of women artists deserve recognition. The Biggs Museum is pleased to be able to present to the public the significant works of this almost forgotten talent.”

The origins of the Biggs exhibition were developed by guest curator Dr. Jann Haynes Gilmore, who has extensively researched Ethel P.B. Leach, a student of noted illustrator Howard Pyle, and published her biography. Dr. Gilmore also pursued references to other artists in Leach’s “Tusculum Circle” of colleagues in the years before World War I that led to Wilmington’s Studio Group, the Wilmington Academy of Art, the arts and crafts village of Arden. Her research, which continues, has uncovered outstanding paintings by Delaware women in private and public collections.

Many of the women artists in Almost Forgottten began their careers as illustrators, some with Howard Pyle or with his followers, and turned to easel painting, producing works with a variety of subjects. Others, like Wuanita Smith, produced outstanding graphic arts.

Delaware’s own

According to Gilmore, “The history of art in the mid-Atlantic region, particularly in the State of Delaware, is rich with examples of women artists whose contributions are memorable, but have been largely forgotten. Several important patrons such as Emily Bissell left their marks on the State, providing leadership equal to other more nationally known women. Indeed, several of these Delawareans contributed significantly to national advancements for women in political rights, social reform, and in the arts. ” From the creative core of talented, independent women who lived in a time when women had few opportunities to succeed in careers, comes a remarkable array of illustrations, landscapes, portraits, sculpture, and architecture. During their lifetimes, these works were exhibited at important venues on the East Coast, in the mid-West, and most interestingly, in the Southwest, where several women artists associated with Delaware settled in or near the art colony of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Nearby, the artworks of these women are represented in the permanent collections of the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Free Library, and the Plastic Club in Philadelphia; the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford; the Rehoboth Art League in Rehoboth Beach, the State Portrait Collection in Dover; and the Biggs Museum, to name just a few.

Each artist has her own story to tell. Wuanita Smith recalls that her father agreed to send her to a school of design in 1884 “…on condition that I become self-supporting in three years.” She did, and her work is now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Woodmere Art Museum, other public and private collections.

Victorine duPont Homsey studied at the Cambridge School of Architecture but received her degree from Smith College, as the School did not then grant degrees to women. She designed such buildings as the home of the Delaware Art Center, now part of the Delaware Art Museum. Sculptor Clara Stat Finkelstein was associated with the Arden colony of artists and a founder of the Brandywine Arts Festival. Rachel Marshall Hawkes, known for her sculpture of children and fountains, exhibited at the Rehoboth Art League. Many of her works are now at “Biltmore,” in Asheville, NC.

For all, it was a matter of perseverance, particularly as women’s roles then were different from today. These unsung role models teach us about self-reliance, independence, self-expression and career choices. Their work affirms that learning is a lifelong process that can bring great pleasure, and what we accomplish in our own lives can inform the lives of generations to come.

The Biggs Museum of American Art: Located in the heart of Historic Dover, Delaware’s capital city, the Biggs Museum surveys over two centuries of American art and antiques in 14 galleries. Artists include members of the Peale Family, Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Cole, Albert Bierstadt, and Childe Hassam, and regional artists as Delaware illustrator Frank E. Schoonover. Decorative arts collections include the work of the Janvier family of cabinetmakers and silversmith Bancroft Woodcock. Sculpture, needlework, drawings, and ceramics complement the collection founded by visionary Sewell C. Biggs. The Museum is open Wed.-Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sun. 1:30 –4:30 p.m. Closed Mon., Tues., & State Holidays. Admission is free; donations are encouraged.

Biggs Museum of American Art

406 Federal StreetDover, Delaware 302-674-2111