Martha E. Simkins (1866–1969) was an American painter, based in Texas, known for her depictions of interiors with figures, still lifes and portraits. She has been called a late-Impressionist-influenced artist.

Biography

Simkins was born in 1866 in

Monticello, Florida Monticello ( ) is the only city in Jefferson County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,506 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jefferson County. The city is named after Monticello, the estate of the county's namesake, Thomas ...

, to Eliza Trescott (perhaps Prescott) and Judge Eldred J. Simkins. In 1871, the family moved to

Corsicana, Texas Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 56 miles northeast of Waco, Texas. The population was 23,770 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Navarro County, and an important Agri-busines ...

Training

Around 1893, Simkins travelled to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

with her mother and three siblings so she could enroll at 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 ...

. There she studied with several influential and highly regarded American Impressionist painters including

Kenyon Cox Kenyon Cox (October 27, 1856 – March 17, 1919) was an American Painting, painter, illustrator, muralist, writer, and teacher. Cox was an influential and important early instructor at the Art Students League of New York. He was the designer of t ...

Emil Carlsen Soren Emil Carlsen (October 19, 1853 – January 2, 1932, New York City, U.S.) was an American Impressionist painter who emigrated to the United States from Denmark. He became known for his still lifes. Later in his career, Carlsen expanded his r ...

and

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. ...

. By 1901, she had moved back to Texas to teach art at North Texas Normal School in Denton and stayed there for several years. By 1906, she had returned to New York City so she could study again with William Merritt Chase. From about 1906 to 1915, Simkins pursued her art in Europe where she befriended

Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar De ...

and may have studied with her. She also met the American painter

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

as his influence can "clearly be seen in her work," though no evidence of formal instruction with either artist has been identified.

She told her good friend, Roger Saunders, that she had been taught by them assatt and Sargent although no documented materials connected to them have been located and neither artist is known to have taken on students.

From 1915 to 1924, Simkins was spending her winters in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

and summers at the Woodstock Art Colony in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000 ...

, keeping art studios in both locations and exhibiting her work in New York city. In 1925, with higher demand for her portraits, she stayed in the Northeast year round and decided to spend her winters in New York and return to Woodstock each summer. Over the years, her work appeared on exhibit at the

Corcoran Gallery 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 ...

, 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 ...

and the

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 ...

. Simkins moved back to Texas permanently in 1934, where she was given more portrait commissions, taught art students, including James Brooks, and entered her work in exhibitions there.

Later years

Simkins remained in Texas because of her mother's illness and other family obligations and continued to be an active artist in the Dallas area for most of the remainder of her long life. Simkins died at the age of 103, on April 15, 1969, in Los Angeles County, California. The artist is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Corsicana, Texas.

Selected exhibitions

* The

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

Annual Exhibitions of Selected Paintings by Texas Artists in 1926-1928, 1930 and 1936 * The Klepper Club Exhibition in 1951 * "Martha Simkins Rediscovered" traveling exhibition in 2002 and 2003

Memberships

* The

Pen and Brush Club Pen and Brush Club (also known as Pen + Brush) is an international organization of professional women, writers and artists. Organized in 1897, the women formed themselves into a club of which the object was to be recreation and the promotion of soc ...

(1918), New York *

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simkins, Martha 1866 births 1969 deaths 19th-century American women artists 20th-century American women artists Art Students League of New York alumni American centenarians Women centenarians