Susan Gertrude Schell (1891-1970), was an American painter and educator. She was a member of the
Philadelphia Ten
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 and later had traveling exh ...
.
Biography
Schell was born in 1891 in
Titusville, Pennsylvania
Titusville is a city in the far eastern corner of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,601 at the 2010 census and an estimated 5,158 in 2019. Titusville is known as the birthplace of the American oil industry and for ...
. She spent her youth in Philadelphia where she first met fellow artist
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. ...
.
She attended the
West Chester State Teachers College
West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle ...
, the
Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art The Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (PMSIA), also referred to as the School of Applied Art, was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on February 26, 1876, as both a museum and teaching institution. This was in response to t ...
, and the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Schell taught at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art from 1930 through 1960.
Schell was associated with the Philadelphia Ten from 1934 to 1945.
In 1953 the
Woodmere Art Museum
Woodmere Art Museum, located in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has a collection of paintings, prints, sculpture and photographs focusing on artists from the Delaware Valley and includes works by Thomas Pollock Anshutz, S ...
purchased ''Pennsylvania Pattern'' for their collection. The Woodmere Art Museum also held a retrospective exhibition of Schell's work in 1962, as well as a memorial exhibition of her work in 1972.
Schell died in 1970.