Bertha Eversfield Perrie (June 20, 1868 – September 16, 1921) was an American painter. She has been described as "about the only famous Washington artist who was actually born in D.C."

Biography

Born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, Perrie was interested in art from an early age, winning a scholarship to the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

. After completing her time there she returned to Washington, where she would become a major figure in local artistic circles. Late in the 1880s she took a position as a teacher at the Art Students League of Washington, where she was also a student, and to whose governing board she would be elected. She taught watercolor at the

Corcoran School of Art The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design (known as the Corcoran School or CSAD) is the professional art school of the George Washington University, in Washington, DC.Peggy McGloneUniversity names first director of Corcoran School of the Arts and ...

for over 20 years, and was also on the faculty at the

Gunston Hall School Gunston Hall School was an American private women's finishing school located in Washington, D.C. It was established by Beverley Randolph Mason and his wife in 1892. The school closed in 1942 due to World War II. History Beverley Randolph Maso ...

. As a painter she was best known for her work in watercolor, though she also produced oil paintings and etchings; she favored landscapes and seascapes, but she painted in other genres as well. Perrie was among the founders of the

Arts Club of Washington The Arts Club of Washington is a private club to promote the Arts in Washington, D.C. Founded by Bertha Noyes in May 1916, its first president was Henry Kirke Bush-Brown; Mathilde Mueden Leisenring was among its original members, as were Susa ...

, and was also a charter member of both the

Society of Washington Artists The Society of Washington Artists was established in 1890 in Washington, D.C. The Society was organized by the ''Art Students League of Washington''. The Society's first exhibit was in 1891, held at the Woodward & Lothrop building. Within a few ...

and the Washington Water Color Club, in whose shows she appeared from 1891 until 1921. She also served on the board, and as an officer, in each organization. She also belonged to the Washington Society of Fine Arts and the Washington Handicraft guild, and showed work at Corcoran exhibitions both regionally and nationally; other venues at which she exhibited included the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

, the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. and the

New York Watercolor Club The American Watercolor Society, founded in 1866, is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolor painting in the United States. Qualifications AWS judges the work of a painter before granting admission to the soc ...

. Perrie exhibited her work at the

Palace of Fine Arts The Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure located in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, originally constructed for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition to exhibit works of art. Completely rebuilt from 1964 to ...

at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

in Chicago, Illinois. Among the awards which Perrie received during her career were the first and second Corcoran prizes at the Washington Water Color Club's 1904 and 1900 exhibitions and a silver medal in the Appalachian Exposition of 1910. In the summer of 1921 she traveled to

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a ...

to spend the season, dying there during her visit. She was honored with a memorial exhibition at the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...

. Among Perrie's pupils was Susan Brown Chase. Stylistically, Perrie's work encompasses aspects of both Impressionism and realism. Three of her pieces, an etching of William S. McPherson and two paintings, a watercolor of flowers and an oil on canvas of a harbor scene in Gloucester, are owned by the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

. She is also represented in the collection of the Arts Club of Washington. Many of her other works have remained in private hands.

Gallery

File:Bertha E. Perrie - Untitled (Flowers) - 1971.377 - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg, Untitled (Flowers), 1916 File:Bertha E. Perrie - Wharf Scene, Gloucester - 1922.9.1 - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg, Wharf Scene, Gloucester, n.d. File:Bertha E. Perrie - Gloucester Wharf.jpg, Gloucester Wharf, n.d.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perrie, Bertha E. 1868 births 1921 deaths American women printmakers American etchers American watercolorists American women watercolorists 19th-century American painters 19th-century American printmakers 20th-century American painters 20th-century American printmakers 20th-century American women painters Painters from Washington, D.C. Art Students League of New York alumni Corcoran School of the Arts and Design faculty Burials at Glenwood Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) 19th-century American women painters Women etchers