Mildred McMillen (1884–1940) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

printmaker. McMillen was a native of Chicago who studied at the

School of the Art Institute The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

in that city from 1906 until 1913. There, she and her long-time companion

Ada Gilmore Ada Gilmore (married name Ada Gilmore Chaffee; 1883–1955) was an American watercolorist and printmaker, one of the Provincetown Printers. Early life and education Gilmore was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. As a pre-teen, she and her three sibling ...

first met. She and Gilmore spent time in France, studying with Ethel Mars and later at the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

, before the outbreak of World War I drove them back to the United States. Another teacher was Charles Hawthorne. In 1914 McMillen and Gilmore settled in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where they became founding members of the

Provincetown Printers Provincetown Printers was an art colony in Provincetown, Massachusetts during the early 20th-century of artists who created art using woodblock printing techniques. It was the first group of its kind in the United States, developed in an area when ...

. Notably, her prints are large in scale and black and white, unusual for members of the group. Several works by McMillen are owned by the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

, and she is represented as well in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

References

1884 births 1940 deaths American women printmakers 20th-century American printmakers 20th-century American women artists Artists from Chicago School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Académie Colarossi alumni {{US-artist-stub