Susan Frackelton

Susan Stuart Goodrich Frackelton (1848–1932) was an American painter, specializing in painting ceramics. She was a leader in the Arts and Crafts movement in the United States and author of ''Tried by Fire'',Susan S. Frackelton
''Tried By Fire - A Work on China-Painting''.
New York: D. Appleton, 1886. the
"most popular handbook for decorators of chinaware", having reached a national audience.

Personal life

Susan Stuart Goodrich was born on June 5, 1848 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to her parents of New England birth, Edwin H. Goodrich and Mary S. Robinson Goodrich. She attended private schools in Milwaukee and New York City.
Men and Women of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries
'. New York City: L.R. Hamersly; 1910. p. 651.

She married Richard Frackelton on July 19, 1869. He was born in London, England and immigrated to the United States about 1857. They lived in Milwaukee, where they raised a daughter and three sons. Her husband ran an import business that failed. The success of Susan Frackelton's businesses, though, helped secure the financial future of their family.''Susan Frackelton: Punch Bowl''.
Milwaukee County Historical Society. Retrieved May 6, 2014. Frackelton sued for divorce from her husband due to his inability to support the family and cruel and inhuman treatment, including engaging in "one series of cursing and swearing at the new woman." By 1899 there were two adult sons, one had died by then, and an eleven-year-old daughter. Richard Frackelton died in 1907. In 1920 Frackelton lived in Chicago, Illinois and went to Haiti for a three-month holiday.Susan Stuart Frackelton. Passport issued December 26, 1919. Passport Applications, January 2, 1906–March 31, 1925. NARA Microfilm Publication M1490, 2740 rolls. General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59. National Archives, Washington, D.C. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Chicago Woman's Club.

She died on April 14, 1932 at her home in Kenilworth, Illinois and was buried two days later in the Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee.''Susan Stuart Frackelton, 1848 to 1932''
Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Retrieved May 6, 2015.

Career

Frackelton studied landscape painting in Milwaukee under Henry Vianden. She made baskets, lace, and jewelry. She worked with leather, carved wood, wove and painted cloth and worked with metal before focusing on ceramics in 1876. She also lectured to a wide range of audiences.

In 1883 she founded the Frackelton China and Decorating Works, where she successfully ran a china painting enterprise and provided painting instruction in downtown Milwaukee. She patented Frackelton's Dry Colors in 1894.Jules Heller; Nancy G. Heller.
North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary
'. Routledge; 19 December 2013. . pp. 191–192.''Susan Frackelton Collection.''
Milwaukee County Historical Society. Retrieved May 6, 2014. Frackelton designed and patented a home kiln machine. She created a particular style of art pottery called the Frackelton "Blue and Grey" which is blue painted ware with a grey glaze. Her "Makers Mark" was a "SF" painted on the underside of each produced item.

File:Susan Stuart Frackelton, pitcher, 1901.jpg, Susan Stuart Frackelton, pitcher, 1901, Milwaukee County Historical Society
File:Susan Stuart Frackelton, loving cup, 1894-1906.jpg, Susan Stuart Frackelton, loving cup, 1894-1906, Milwaukee County Historical Society
File:Susan Stuart Frackelton, stein, 1894-1906.jpg, Susan Stuart Frackelton, stein, 1894-1906, Milwaukee County Historical Society

Frackelton was successful as a 19th-century woman artist, including having been the creator of the Blue and Grey pottery, painter of china and maker of book illuminations:

In 1892 she founded the National League of Mineral Painters, which included members Adelaïde Alsop Robineau and Mary Chase Perry. Frackelton was president of a local association of professional artists, that merged into the ''Milwaukee Art Institute'', and at last into the Milwaukee Art Museum. She was also president of the ''Wisconsin School of Design''.''2005 Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Awards : Susan Frackelton''
Wisconsin Visual Arts. Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors Inc. Retrieved May 6, 2014.

At the 1893 World’s Fair she exhibited her salt-glazed ware and won nine awards for sets of her works. She won other medals at exhibitions in Europe and the United States in the 1880s and 1890s. Margherita of Savoy, the Italian queen congratulated her via letter to her good works and arranged for Frackelton to present her works to the court.Frances Elizabeth Willard; Mary Ashton Rice Livermore.
A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life
'. Moulton; 1893. p. 298.

In 1899 she jointly made pottery with ceramic artist George E. Ohr.Richard D. Mohr.
Pottery, Politics, Art: George Ohr and the Brothers Kirkpatrick
'. University of Illinois Press; 2003. . p. 145. At the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle she exhibited her delftwares. Her works are among the Wisconsin Historical Society, Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee County Historical Society and Sinsinawa Mound.

In 2005 she posthumously was awarded the Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Award "due to her ground-breaking work with ceramics, china painting and the art pottery movement of the late 19th century."

References

Further reading

* Lynette Korenic. ''The Decorative Fire of Susan S. Frackelton: China Painting, Art Pottery, and Book Illumination''. University of California—Santa Barbara; 2006.
* Patricia Marks. ''Susan S. Frackelton: Inventive Artist in Milwaukee's Past''. 1995.
* George Weedon. (1975). ''Susan S. Frackleton and the American Arts and Crafts Movement.'' Milwaukee: Milwaukee Box Press.

External links

Susan S. Frackelton (1848-1932)
Pottery of Frackelton

Susan S.Frackleton Collection at the MCHS

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frackelton, Susan Stuart
American women painters
Porcelain painters
Artists from Milwaukee
1848 births
1932 deaths
Painters from Wisconsin
19th-century American painters
20th-century American painters
20th-century American women artists
19th-century American women artists
People from Kenilworth, Illinois