Elizabeth Macdowell Kenton (1858–1953) was an American artist known for her figure paintings and portraits. She was also a photographer.

Early life

She was one of the eight children of Hannah Gardner and William Hance Macdowell, a Philadelphia engraver, photographer, and a skilled painter. He passed on his interest in

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

and

freethought Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...

to his three sons and five daughters.University of Rochester. Memorial Art Gallery.
Seeing America: Painting and Sculpture from the Collection of the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester
'. University Rochester Press; 1 January 2006. . p. 141. Elizabeth and her sister

Susan Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...

each displayed an early interest in art, which was encouraged by their father.Carol Kort; Liz Sonneborn.
A to Z of American Women in the Visual Arts
'. Infobase Publishing; 1 January 2002. . p. 58. They both studied at 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.Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artists. For the length ...

, and Susan married Eakins in January 1884.Petteys, Chris, “Dictionary of Women Artists: An international dictionary of women artists born before 1900”, G.K. Hall & Co., Boston, 1985 p, 460 Eakins painted portraits of several of the Macdowells, and used them as models in photographs. ''Day Dreams: Portrait of Caroline Eakins'', Elizabeth's portrait of Susan's sister-in-law, was exhibited 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 in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

in Chicago. It eventually found a home in the

Taubman Museum of Art The Taubman Museum of Art, formerly the Art Museum of Western Virginia, is an art museum in downtown Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It was designed by architect Randall Stout. History In 1947, the Roanoke chapter of the American Associatio ...

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

, while many of her other works can be found in private collections. Elizabeth Macdowell married Louis N. Kenton (1865–1947) on May 31, 1899.Sewell, Darrel; et al., ''Thomas Eakins''. Yale University Press, 2001. Thomas Eakins painted a portrait of him, ''

The Thinker ''The Thinker'' (french: Le Penseur) is a bronze sculpture by Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled tradi ...

'' (1900), now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Kentons' marriage was brief and not happy, with notes from Susan's diaries indicating that he was physically violent. File:Eakins H22.jpg, Parents: William & Hannah Macdowell File:Eakins H12.jpg, Kenton (2nd from r) with her sisters File:Eakins, Susan MacDowell Eakins, 1899.jpg, Sister: Susan Macdowell Eakins File:Thomas Eakins - Portrait of Walter S. Macdowell.jpg, Brother: Walter S. Macdowell File:Frank Macdowell G219.png, Brother: Frank Macdowell File:NY Met eakins thinker.JPG, ''The Thinker'' by Thomas Eakins

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenton, Elizabeth Macdowell 1858 births 1953 deaths 19th-century American painters Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni Students of Thomas Eakins 19th-century American women painters American women photographers