The Philadelphia Ten, also known as The Ten, was a group of American female artists who exhibited together from 1917 to 1945. The group, eventually numbering 30 painters and sculptors, exhibited annually in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and later had traveling exhibitions at museums throughout the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

and the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

Purpose

The Philadelphia Ten was formed to help women who wanted to move beyond the role of hobbyists, as they were commonly viewed in the early 20th century, to be accepted as professional artists. For example, one of the objectives of the group was to give women the ability to control how their work was exhibited. They could limit the number of participants in shows and allow each one to exhibit a larger number of pieces than was typically possible in a

juried competition A juried competition is a competition in which participants' work is judged by a person or panel of persons convened specifically to judge the participants' efforts, either by the competition's stated rubric or by a subjective set of criteria depen ...

. In addition, the group provided a supportive environment for their creativity, with discussion forums, access to models and professional instruction. The lifestyle choices of the members were unusual for the time: many of them never married; others who did marry chose not to have children or kept their maiden names. For many of the women, the group became a source of friendships and collegial relationships.

History and legacy

The group's first show was held at the

Art Club of Philadelphia The Art Club of Philadelphia, often called the Philadelphia Art Club, was a club in Philadelphia, founded on February 7, 1887, to advance the arts.

in February 1917. It included 247 paintings by 11 artists, nine trained at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (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 ...

) and two from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Over the years, more women joined the group; in all, 30 artists participated in the 65 subsequent exhibitions. The final exhibition of the group was held in April 1945 at the Woodmere Gallery in Philadelphia. The works exhibited reflected the influence of teachers such as

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

Henry B. Snell and included landscapes,

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

and sculpture. In 1998, in celebration of the school's 150th anniversary, the faculty of the Moore College of Art and Design organized a retrospective of the Philadelphia Ten that traveled to museums throughout the country. The exhibition included 81 paintings and 9 sculptures. In 2010, Moore College showed archived pieces dating from the 1920s–40s of seven of the first eleven members of The Philadelphia Ten, along with recent works by members of The Other Woman art collective, also formed by former students of the college. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many local and regional women's art organizations were formed and sponsored exhibitions. The

Ladies' Art Association The Ladies' Art Association was established in New York City in 1867, during a time when women’s arts organizations were becoming prominent in both Europe and the United States. The LAA was the most successful women's art association to appear ...

of New York was among the first, followed by

The Plastic Club The Plastic Club is an arts organization located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1897 for women only, the Plastic Club is one of the oldest art clubs in the United States. It is located on the 200 block of Camac Street, the "Little Street ...

in Philadelphia, 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 ...

in New York, and others. However, the Philadelphia Ten is recognized as being the group that exhibited most widely and for the longest time.

Members

All of the members of the Philadelphia Ten attended art school in Philadelphia. After the original exhibition by 11 painters, the group eventually grew to include 23 painters and 7 sculptors. The artists were generally not on the cutting edge of

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

, and they are not well-represented in museum collections. However, their work was well-received during the 1920s and 1930s, when painters like

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

and

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

were not yet popular in the United States.

Original group

All of the original members were painters. *

Eleanor Abrams Eleanor Abrams (1885 - 1967), was an American painter. She was an original member of the Philadelphia Ten. Biography Abrams was born in 1885 in Butler County, Pennsylvania. She worked as an occupational therapist, known as Reconstruction Aides, ...

Katharine Marie Barker Katherine Barker Fussell née Barker (1891 - 1984), was an American painter. She was an original member of the Philadelphia Ten. Biography Barker was born in 1891 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, s ...

* Theresa Bernstein * Cora S. Brooks *

Isabel Branson Cartwright Isabel Parke Branson Cartwright (September 4, 1885 – June 7, 1966) was an American artist born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Cartwright attended the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. In 1906, she won the 'Alumnae Award', a European fello ...

* Constance Cochrane * Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton *

Arrah Lee Gaul Arrah Lee Gaul (1888-1980), was an American painter. She was the first woman to have a solo exhibition at the Philadelphia Art Club. Gaul was the official artist of the Philadelphia Sesqui-Centennial and an original member of the Philadelphia Ten. ...

Lucile Howard Edith Lucile Howard (1885–1959) was an American landscape artist. She was born in Bellow Falls, Vermont, and died of cancer in Moorestown, New Jersey, in 1959. Philadelphia Ten Edith Howard was a founder and member of the Philadelphia Ten. ...

Helen Kiner McCarthy Helen Kiner McCarthy (1884–1927), was an American painter. She was an original member of the Philadelphia Ten. Biography McCarthy was born in 1884 in Poland, Ohio. In 1904, she began her studies at the Philadelphia School of Design, studying un ...

Katharine Hood McCormick Katherine Hood McCormick (1882-1960), was an American painter known for her watercolors and wood block prints. She was an original member of the Philadelphia Ten. Biography McCormick was born in 1882 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended th ...

Cartwright, Cochrane and Howard participated in all 65 exhibitions held by the group.

Other painters

* Maude Drein Bryant *

Fern Coppedge Fern Isabel Coppedge (July 28, 1883 – April 21, 1951) was an American impressionist painter. Life Born in the small town of Cerro Gordo near Decatur, Illinois to John L. Kuns and Maria Dilling Kuns, Fern Coppedge spent much of her life in Penn ...

Nancy Maybin Ferguson Nancy Maybin Ferguson (1872–1967), was an American painter whose career spanned decades. She is known for her ''plein-air'' paintings. She was a member of the Philadelphia Ten. Biography Ferguson was born in 1872 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

* Margaret Ralston Gest * Sue May Gill *

Susette Schultz Keast Susette Inloes Schultz Keast (August 6, 1892 – September 5, 1932) was an American painter. She was a member of the Philadelphia Ten. Biography Keast was born in 1892 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended the Philadelphia School of Desi ...

* Marian T. MacIntosh *

Emma Fordyce MacRae Emma Fordyce MacRae (April 27, 1887, Vienna – August 6, 1974) was an American representational painter. She was a member of the Philadelphia Ten, a group of women artists who worked and exhibited together. Her work — including still lif ...

Mary Elizabeth Price Mary Elizabeth Price (March 1, 1877 – February 19, 1965), also known as M. Elizabeth Price, was an American impressionism, Impressionist painter. She was an early member of the Philadelphia Ten, organizing several of the group's exhibitions. Sh ...

Elizabeth Wentworth Roberts Elizabeth Wentworth Roberts (June 10, 1871 – March 12, 1927) was an American painter who lived and worked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Paris, and Concord, Massachusetts. She established the Jennie Sesnan Gold Medal at the Pennsylvania Academy ...

Susan Gertrude Schell Susan Gertrude Schell (1891-1970), was an American painter and educator. She was a member of the Philadelphia Ten. Biography Schell was born in 1891 in Titusville, Pennsylvania. She spent her youth in Philadelphia where she first met fellow arti ...

Edith Longstreth Wood Edith Longstreth Wood (March 22, 1884 – February 1967) was an American painter. She was a member of the Philadelphia Ten. Biography Longstreth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1884. After graduating from Friends' Central School 1901, ...

Sculptors

Gladys Edgerly Bates Gladys Edgerly Bates (July 15, 1896 – July 28, 2003) was an American sculptor known for her figure carving. Her work is in permanent collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She was a member o ...

Cornelia Van Auken Chapin Cornelia Van Auken Chapin (August 7, 1893 – December 4, 1972) American sculptor and animalier born in Waterford, Connecticut. She was known for her stone models of birds and animals, which she largely carved directly from life and without pre ...

Beatrice Fenton Beatrice Fenton (July 12, 1887February 11, 1983) was an American sculptor and educator born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best known for her whimsical fountains. Her work was also part of the sculpture event in the art competition at th ...

Harriet Whitney Frishmuth Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (September 17, 1880 – January 1, 1980) was an American sculptor known for her works in bronze. Life She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her parents divorced when she was in her teens, and she moved to Europe wi ...

Genevieve Karr Hamlin Genevieve Karr Hamlin (1896-1989), was an American sculptor and potter. She created the 1926 Exposition of Women's Art & Industries Medal. She was a member of the Philadelphia Ten. Biography Hamlin was born July 1, 1896, in New York City. She at ...

Joan Hartley Joan V. Hartley is an American politician. A Democrat, she has been a state senator from Connecticut since 2001. A resident of Middlebury, she represents all of Waterbury, the northern part of Naugatuck and the northeastern part Middlebury. ...

Mary Louise Lawser Mary Louise Lawser (1906–1985), was an American muralist and sculptor. She was known for her decorations of streamlined trains. She was a member of the Philadelphia Ten. Biography Lawser was born in 1906. She attended Pennsylvania Museum Scho ...

Gallery

M.Elizabeth Price, The Wine Shop, Quimperle, Brittany, oil on canvas, by 1921.jpg, M. Elizabeth Price, ''The Wine Shop, Quimperle, Brittany'', by 1921 Elizabeth Wentworth Roberts, Figures on the Sand, Annisquam, 1915.jpg, Elizabeth Wentworth Roberts, ''Figures on the Sand, Annisquam,'' 1915 Helen Kiner McCarthy 101 Portrait Red and White.jpg, Helen Kiner McCarthy, ''Portrait: Red and White'', by 1916 Sunflower dial Rittenhs Sq.jpg, Beatrice Fenton, ''Sunflower Dial'' Speed - Harriet Frishmuth.jpg, Harriet Frishmuth, ''Speed'', 1922 Calendulas and Asters.jpg, Maude Drein Bryant, ''Calendulas and Asters'' File:Inner Harbor by Susette Schultz Keast, 1922, PAFA.jpg, Susette Schultz Keast, ''Inner Harbor''

References

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