Hattie Hutchcraft Hill (April 27, 1847 – September 2, 1921) was an American artist from Paris, Kentucky who studied art and painted in Paris, France.

Early life and education

Harriet Amanda Hutchraft was born to her parents, James and Elizabeth Hutchcraft, on April 27, 1847, in Bourbon County, Kentucky. She was the sixth of her parents' nine children. She married a man named William Hill from Illinois in 1866. She visited the Paris World's Fair (the Exposition Universelle (1878)) with one of her sisters in 1878, which may have inspired or encouraged her ambitions to become a painter. In 1888 she returned to Europe, traveling through Italy, Spain, and France, where she met with the painter Rosa Bonheur, and in 1890 she settled in Paris and enrolled in art school at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

, studying with

Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (also known as Benjamin-Constant), born Jean-Joseph Constant (10 June 1845 – 26 May 1902), was a French painter and etcher best known for his Oriental subjects and portraits. Biography Benjamin-Constant was bor ...

and

Jules Joseph Lefebvre Jules Joseph Lefebvre (; 14 March 183624 February 1911) was a French figure painter, educator and theorist. Early life Lefebvre was born in Tournan-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, on 14 March 1836. He entered the École nationale supérieure des Bea ...

Career as artist

Hill is most known for oil works, consisting mainly of still-life, portraits, landscapes and marine pictures. She painted under the name "H. Hutchcraft Hill". While in France, Hill exhibited in two

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

s. After returning to the United States, she maintained a portrait studio in Los Angeles from 1895 to 1898. Back at her home in Bourbon County, Kentucky Hill became a prolific painter and china-painting teacher. She was a close friend of

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including '' La Dame Aux Camel ...

, of whom she painted a portrait. She painted a portrait series of Bourbon County judges which hangs in the Bourbon County Courthouse. Hill lived, painted, and taught in Paris, Kentucky until her death in 1921.

References

External links

Hattie Hutchcraft Hill scrapbook
at the Archives of American Art * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Hattie Hutchcraft Painters from Kentucky People from Paris, Kentucky Académie Julian alumni 1847 births 1921 deaths American women artists Burials at Paris Cemetery