Myra Albert Wiggins (1869–1956) was an American painter and pictorial photographer who became a member of the important early 20th century
Photo-Secession
The Photo-Secession was an early 20th century movement that promoted photography as a fine art in general and photographic pictorialism in particular.
A group of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz and F. Holland Day in the early 20th centur ...
movement.
Life
Early years (1869–89)
Wiggins, ''
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Myra Jane Albert, was born on December 15, 1869 in
Salem, Oregon
Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...
. She was the second of four children born to John Henry Albert and Mary Elizabeth Holman. Her father worked his way from being a bookkeeper in a local linseed oil company to becoming president of the Capital National Bank in Salem.
She showed natural artistic talent at an early age, and she would spend hours drawing and painting both in her home and in the fields around Salem. Her parents encouraged her talent both because she was very good and because a cultural background in the arts was expected for upper class women of the time. When she was 17, she won the first of many awards for painting at the
Oregon State Fair
The Oregon State Fair is the official state fair of the U.S. state of Oregon. It takes place every August–September at the Oregon State Fairgrounds located in north Salem, Oregon, Salem, the state capital, as it has almost every year since 1862. ...
, and between 1886 and 1907 she won a total of 94 more state fair awards for her art.
About 1888 she met her future husband, Frederick Arthur Wiggins, who was the owner of a local store that was one of the first to offer a variety of products under one roof. Among the products he offered were bicycles, which at that time were first becoming a craze among younger people, and Myra recalled that she first met Fred while riding around town on her bicycle. Their families were very active in outdoor activities, and several times a year they would see each other at outings in the area.
Wiggins said that her introduction to photography was her brother's doing since he wanted to take a photograph of his sweetheart and, not having a camera, thought their father would be more likely to buy one if both of them said they would use it.
In 1889, they acquired a large glass-plate camera and tripod, and soon she was using it far more than her brother. Some of her first pictures were taken on one of her family's many trips to the
Oregon Coast
The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Columbia ...
.
Within two years she won a new camera as first prize in the amateur division of a competition held by ''
West Shore'' magazine, and many of the photographs she submitted for the contest were exhibited at the Portland North Pacific Industrial Exposition in 1890.
Becoming an artist (1890–99)
Like many progressive women of the late 19th century, Myra was sent to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
for her higher education. She studied 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 ...
from 1891 to 1894, where she took classes from
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
John Twachtman
John Henry Twachtman (August 4, 1853 – August 8, 1902) was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes, though his painting style varied widely through his career. Art historians consider Twachtman's style of American Impr ...
. Chase in particular influenced her thinking about art, and when she brought her photographs for him to view he would sometimes write comments on the back of them. She immortalized Chase in a famous 1891 photograph of the artist teaching at the league, surrounded by his female students.
While she was studying in New York, she would return to Salem during the summers, and in the summer of 1892, she announced her engagement to Fred Wiggins. When she returned to New York that fall, she became one of the first female members of the New York Camera Club. She used the club's darkroom facilities, and it was here that she met
Joseph Keiley
Joseph Turner Keiley (26 July 1869 – 21 January 1914) was an early 20th-century photographer, writer and art critic. He was a close associate of photographer Alfred Stieglitz and was one of the founding members of the Photo-Secession. Over the ...
, an influential photographer, writer, and close friend of
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz (January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was kno ...
.
She and her fiancé were married on November 24, 1894, in Salem, and their daughter Mildred, their only child, was born in 1896.
Master of photography (1900–29)
In 1900, Wiggins was given first of two one-woman exhibitions of her photography at the
Chicago Art Institute
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and list of largest art museums, largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visit ...
. She had already met and corresponded with the most important photographer of the time, Alfred Stieglitz, and in 1903 he admitted her as a member in the newly formed
Photo-Secession
The Photo-Secession was an early 20th century movement that promoted photography as a fine art in general and photographic pictorialism in particular.
A group of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz and F. Holland Day in the early 20th centur ...
.
In the fall of 1903, one of Wiggins photographs was included in the Hamburg Jubilee Exhibition in
Hamburg
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Hamburgian(s)
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,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, and in the London Salon organized by the famous
Linked Ring
The Linked Ring (also known as "The Brotherhood of the Linked Ring") was a British photographic society created to propose and defend that photography was just as much an art as it was a science, motivated to propelling photography further into t ...
. A review of the latter exhibition in the British magazine ''Photography'' contains these words of praise:
: "All things considered, we consider Mrs. Wiggins' picture called Polishing Brass one of the finest in the whole room. It certainly is the most pictorial, and is exactly like a print by
Chodowiecke , both in subject and feeling. A woman is seated at a table with metal utensils of quaint and interesting form. The whole thing is quiet, healthy, and exceedingly well-designed – an example for hundreds."
In 1904, Wiggins was one of five Oregon delegates selected to go on a "Cruise of the Christians" to attend the World's Fourth Sunday School Convention in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. She photographed scenes both on the boat and when she arrived, often developing the film in her room at night. On the return trip she stopped in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
specifically to see major photographic salons that were on exhibit at the time. Later that year she published ''Letters from a Pilgrim'' (Salem: Statesman Publishing), a photographically illustrated description of her journey to the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
.
That same year, Stieglitz sent 200 photographs representing the best artists of the
Photo-Secession
The Photo-Secession was an early 20th century movement that promoted photography as a fine art in general and photographic pictorialism in particular.
A group of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz and F. Holland Day in the early 20th centur ...
to the Hague International Photography Exhibition. Among those artists he included were Wiggins and her Oregon colleague Sarah Ladd. Wiggins also had photographs published in several important magazines, including ''Photo-Era'', ''The Photo Miniature'', ''Photograms of the Year'' and ''Die Kunst in Der Photographie'' (a high quality German quarterly similar to ''
Camera Work
''Camera Work'' was a quarterly photographic journal published by Alfred Stieglitz from 1903 to 1917. It presented high-quality photogravures by some of the most important photographers in the world, with the goal to establish photography as a ...
'').
Wiggins' mother Mary died in 1905 after being in a car wreck. Her father, who was driving, was not injured, but he suffered greatly from guilt and anguish in the following years.
In 1906, she was included in the invitational exhibit "The Work of Women Photographers of America" at the Camera Club of
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
. Wiggins was one of 26 women who were presented in the show. Later that year two of her photographs were included in the annual members exhibit at Stieglitz's
Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
in New York.
By 1907, Fred Wiggins wanted to enter the plant nursery business and he moved his family to
Toppenish
Toppenish () is a city in Yakima County, Washington, Yakima County, Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 8,854. It is located within the Yakama Indian Reservation, established in ...
in central
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. Fred started the Washington Nursery Company, and Wiggins tried to help her husband financially by opening an art studio and school. Her new hometown area was much more rural and undeveloped than Salem, and much of the countryside around the town was dry and dusty. The dust caused health problems for Wiggins, and it was several years before she could produce a regular income from her painting.
Wiggins continued to photograph as much as her health allowed, and she exhibited again at the Little Galleries in New York and at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. Fellow Photo-Secessionist
Anne Brigman
Anne Wardrope Brigman (née Nott; December 3, 1869 – February 8, 1950) was an American photographer and one of the original members of the Photo-Secession movement in America.
Her most famous images were taken between 1900 and 1920 and depict ...
commented on Wiggins' photos in the latter show, saying she "invariably infuses her work with an atmosphere of tender sadness."
Over the next decade Wiggins' photos were shown in many important exhibitions, including the International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography in New York City (1909), the Annual Pictorial Photography Invitation in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
(1910) and the landmark International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography (1910) at the
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...
in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
. Encouraged by the interest in her work by other photographers in Seattle, Wiggins started to spend more time in that city.
From the mid-1910s to the late 1920s, she alternated between helping her husband with his business and taking her photographs to Seattle when there was enough money to go. During this time she also developed an interest in lecturing about her work, other photographers and about art in general.
In 1928, the Seattle Fine Arts Society gave Wiggins her last one-woman photography exhibit.
Master of painting (1930–56)
In 1930, Wiggins co-founded the
Women Painters of Washington
The Women Painters of Washington is a non-profit organization based in the U.S. state of Washington. The group was formed on October 6, 1930, by six female artists who met while attending a portrait class sponsored by the Art Institute of Seattle, ...
, one of the state's oldest existing arts organizations. Through her lecturing and classes, she became a vital force in most of the region's arts activities. In 1932 she moved permanently to Seattle.
She continued to paint for many years and was recognized for her artistry through retrospective exhibits at the
Seattle Art Museum
The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park on Cap ...
(1953) and the
de Young Museum
The de Young Museum, formally the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco, California. Located in Golden Gate Park, it is a component of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, along with the Legion of Honor ...
in San Francisco (1954). She also had one-person shows of her paintings in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
and New York. By the time she turned 86 in 1955, she had completed 114 paintings.
On January 13, 1956, Wiggins died of a stroke. She was actively painting up until the time of her death. Her husband died in an accident four months later.
Her work is in the permanent collections several important museums, including the
Portland Art Museum
The Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon, United States, was founded in 1892, making it one of the oldest art museums on the West Coast and seventh oldest in the US. Upon completion of the most recent renovations, the Portland Art Museum becam ...
, the
Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fe ...
and the
National Museum of American Art
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 ...
at the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
.
Further reading
*Glauber, Carole. "Myra Albert Wiggins: Arts and Crafts Photographer", ''Style 1900'', May 1999.
*Glauber, Carole. "A Wandering Lens - Myra Albert Wiggins: Photographer, Artist and Mentor", ''Artifact Magazine'', March/April 1996.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiggins, Myra Albert
1869 births
1956 deaths
American women painters
Photographers from Oregon
Artists from Salem, Oregon
19th-century American painters
20th-century American painters
19th-century American photographers
20th-century American photographers
19th-century American women photographers
20th-century American women photographers