The American artist Paulette Van Roekens was born in farmhouse outside of

Château-Thierry Château-Thierry () is a French commune situated in the department of the Aisne, in the administrative region of Hauts-de-France, and in the historic Province of Champagne. The origin of the name of the town is unknown. The local tradition att ...

, France late New Year's Eve 1895. At a young age, she emigrated to the United States with her parents, Victor (a horticulturalist) and Jeanne van Roekens, to reside in

Glenside, Pennsylvania Glenside is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Cheltenham Township and Abington Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It borders Northwest Philadelphia. The population was 7,737 at the 2020 census on a land area of ...

. In 1915, Van Roekens enrolled in the

Philadelphia School of Design for Women Philadelphia School of Design for Women (1848–1932) was an art school for women in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Housed in the former Edwin Forrest House at 1346 North Broad Street, under the directorship of Emily Sartain (1886–1920), ...

(now

Moore College of Art and Design Moore College of Art & Design is a Private college, private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its undergraduate programs are available only for female students, but its other educational programs, including graduate programs, are co-ed ...

), where she was awarded the John Sartain Fellowship (1916). She also attended classes at the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...

, and studied sculpture at the Graphic Sketch Club of Philadelphia. She also studied under

Henry B. Snell Henry Bayley Snell (September 29, 1858 – January 17, 1943) was an American Impressionist painter and educator. Snell's paintings are in museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Albright–Knox Art Galle ...

Leopold Seyffert Leopold Seyffert ca. 1910 Leopold Gould Seyffert (January 6, 1887 – June 13, 1956) was an American artist. Born in California, Missouri and raised as a child in Colorado and then Pittsburgh, his career brought him eventually to New York City, ...

, Joseph Pearson, and

Charles Grafly Charles Allan Grafly, Jr. (December 3, 1862May 5, 1929) was an American sculptor, and teacher. Instructor of Sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for 37 years, his students included Paul Manship, Albin Polasek, and Walker Hanc ...

. She became a professor at the

Moore College of Art Moore College of Art & Design is a private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its undergraduate programs are available only for female students, but its other educational programs, including graduate programs, are co-educational. Hist ...

in drawing and painting in 1923, a position she held for almost 40 years. At the time of her retirement in 1961, the College presented her with an honorary doctorate. In 1927 she married a colleague at Moore, Arthur Meltzer, a respected artist in his own right. They had two children, Davis Paul and Joanne. She and Melzer lived in the Philadelphia area for the rest of their lives. They each had a studio in the family home, but painted subjects from New York as well as outdoor scenes from excursions to Europe. She worked in a variety of media and is well known for her oils and pastels. Still lifes are prominent in her early work, but as her career developed she turned more and more to landscapes. She called herself a “sometimes impressionist” because while she was strongly influenced by

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

she found it difficult to completely break with academic drawing. She exhibited throughout her career, with 14 solo exhibitions (her first in 1920) and two retrospective exhibitions with her husband. Her final exhibition was only a few months before her death on January 11, 1988. Her work is represented at the

Corcoran Gallery of Art 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 ...

, the Carnegie Institute, the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, the

Mint Museum The Mint Museum, also referred to as The Mint Museums, is a cultural institution comprising two museums, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown, together these two locations have hundreds of collection ...

(Charlotte, N.C.), the Albright Gallery, and the

Detroit Institute of Art The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project complete ...

. She held memberships in the Art Alliance of America and the

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 ...

Partial list of works

* ''Victory Loan on Chestnut Street'', 1918 * ''Girard Bank, (World War I Victory Loan)'', 1919 * ''Towers in the Mist'', 1925 * ''City Hall Towers'', 1928 * ''The Horse with the Lavender Eye'', 1939 * ''Midsummer Dreams'', n.d. * ''Sawdust and Spangles'', n.d. * ''Under the Spotlight'', n.d. * ''15th St. from Broad St. Station'' * ''The New Boulevard'' * ''Treat 'Em Rough'' * ''Gray Towers''

Awards

* Gold medal, Plastic Club, 1920 * Gold medal,

Philadelphia Sketch Club The Philadelphia Sketch Club, founded on November 20, 1860, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of America's oldest artists' clubs. The club's own web page proclaims it ''the'' oldest. Prominent members have included Joseph Pennell, Thomas Eaki ...

, 1923 *

fellowship prize, 1928 * Exhibition prizes, Woodmere Art Gallery, 1946, 1956 * Honorable Mention,

References

External links

Michener Museum

Peirce Galleries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Roekens, Paulette 1895 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American women painters 20th-century American painters American Impressionist painters Painters from Philadelphia Philadelphia School of Design for Women alumni Moore College of Art and Design faculty