Gladys Milligan (1892 — 1973) was an American painter.

Biography

Born in

LaRue, Ohio LaRue is a village in Marion County, Ohio, United States. The population was 747 at the 2010 census. The village is served by Elgin Local School District. LaRue has a public library, a branch of Marion Public Library. Geography LaRue is located ...

, McMillan attended the

Western College for Women Western College for Women, known at other times as Western Female Seminary, The Western and simply Western College, was a women's and later coed liberal arts college in Oxford, Ohio, between 1855 and 1974. Initially a seminary, it was the host of ...

and Westminster College in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. She then studied under

George Luks George Benjamin Luks (August 13, 1867 – October 29, 1933) was an American artist, identified with the aggressively realistic Ashcan School of American painting. After travelling and studying in Europe, Luks worked as a newspaper illustrator a ...

and Hans Hofmann and at the Pratt Institute before traveling to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

for further instruction with André Lhote and at the Fontainebleau School of Art. She is known to have been active 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, ...

at least as early as 1931, continuing her activities there until at least 1967. Beginning in 1931, for over twenty years she taught painting and art history at the

National Cathedral School National Cathedral School (NCS) is an independent Episcopal private day school for girls in grades 4–12 located on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by philanthropist and suffragist Phoe ...

, from which she retired in 1955. Long a member 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 Sus ...

, she had one-woman shows there in 1938 and 1947. Other solo shows occurred at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

and at the Studio Gallery in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. She also belonged to 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 ...

, at whose 1932 exhibition she presented an oil titled ''Taos, New Mexico'', and th Washington Water Color Club, and she exhibited with both the

National Association of Women Artists The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

and the

National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

during her career. An article which she penned about the Society of Washington Artists was published in 1963 by the Columbia Historical Society. Milligan eventually moved to Tryon,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

to join the artists' colony there. She died in Tryon; her body was returned to Ohio for burial, and rests in the Bellefontaine City Cemetery in Bellefontaine. Milligan worked in oil, pastel, and watercolor during her career, producing landscapes, portraits, and still lifes. A 1948 oil-on-canvas still-life is currently owned by the

Phillips Collection The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the grandson of James H. Laughlin ...

in Washington, D.C. A 1972 portrait of Abby Merchant, an acquaintance from the Tryon artists' colony, is currently in the Polk County Historical Museum in Tryon. She is also represented in the collection of the

New Mexico Museum of Art The New Mexico Museum of Art is an art museum in Santa Fe governed by the state of New Mexico. It is one of four state-run museums in Santa Fe that are part of the Museum of New Mexico. It is located at 107 West Palace Avenue, one block off the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milligan, Gladys 1892 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters People from LaRue, Ohio Painters from Ohio Western College for Women alumni Westminster College (Pennsylvania) alumni Pratt Institute alumni People from Tryon, North Carolina