Helen Lincoln Appleton Read (August 25, 1887 – December 3, 1974) was an American art critic and art historian. Helen Lincoln Appleton was born on August 25, 1887, in Brooklyn Heights to R. Ross Appleton and his wife. Her father was a banker, who, by 1914, was President of the Security Bank of New York; She had a sister, Mary E. Appleton. Both sisters ultimately worked in the art world and became known as "the Appleton Girls". Helen attended Brooklyn Heights Seminary, then

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

from 1904 to 1908, majoring in art history. From 1908-14, she studied painting at the Art Students League under the supervision of

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...

and

Frank Vincent DuMond Frank Vincent DuMond (August 20, 1865 – February 6, 1951) was one of the most influential teacher-painters in 20th-century America. He was an illustrator and American Impressionist painter of portraits and landscapes, and a prominent teach ...

and at the

New York School of Art Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

with painter Robert Henri. While studying art, she also sat for paintings, including two works by

Eugene Speicher Eugene (Edward) Speicher NA (April 5, 1883 – May 11, 1962) was an American portrait, landscape, and figurative painter. He was one of the foremost realists of his generation who closely upheld the mantle of his mentor, Robert Henri. Biography ...

, "Red, White and Blue" (1914) and "Miss Helen Appleton" which won the 1911 Proctor Prize from the National Academy. In 1914, she married Charles Albert Read III, son of Charles Albert Read Jr. and Ellen Arvilla (Hatfield) Read from Boston and

Manchester-by-the-Sea Manchester-by-the-Sea (also known simply as Manchester, its name prior to 1989) is a coastal town on Cape Ann, in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is known for scenic beaches and vista points. According to the 2020 population ...

. The couple had daughter, Helen Read, the following year, by then residing at 38 Livingston Street in Brooklyn. Charles and Helen Appleton Read eventually divorced, and as of 1967, Helen Appleton Read lived with Mary in their childhood home in Brooklyn Heights. Like Helen, Mary had a career in the arts, working at the Whitney Museum from its founding. Following the birth of her daughter, Helen Appleton Read returned to art history and criticism, including authoring a book on her former painting teacher Robert Henri (1931). From 1922 to 1938, Appleton Read worked as art critic for '' The Brooklyn Eagle''; for part of that period (1925 to 1930) she also served as associate art editor of ''Vogue''. She joined the contemporary portraiture gallery,

Portraits, Inc. Portraits, Inc., is the world's oldest and largest commissioned portrait company. Founded in New York City in 1942, Portraits, Inc. specializes in commissioned oil painting, paintings or bronze sculpture, sculptures. Today the agency represents o ...

, then located at 460

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

, in 1943 as gallery director, then became president in 1957. She retired in 1972, but continued as a consultant. Appleton Read died on December 3, 1974, aged 87, at her Brooklyn Heights home at 146 Hicks Street, a historic Federal townhouse built in 1826. She was survived by her daughter, three granddaughters, and her sister.

Books

*''Robert Henri'' (1931) *''500 Years of German Art'' *''Caspar David Friedrich, Apostle of Romanticism''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Read, Helen Appleton 1887 births 1974 deaths American art critics American art historians Smith College alumni Vogue (magazine) people American newspaper people People from Brooklyn Heights Historians from New York (state)