The Woman's Art Club of New York was founded in

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 ...

in 1889 and provided a means for social interaction and marketing of women's works of art. The club accepted members from the United States and abroad. In 1913, the group changed its name to the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. The current name for the group is the

National Association of Women Artists 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 ...

, which was adopted in 1941.

History

The club was founded by the artists Anita C. Ashley, Adele Frances Bedell, Elizabeth S. Cheever, Edith Mitchill Prellwitz, and Grace Fitz-Randolph in Fritz-Randolph's studio on Washington Square in New York on January 31, 1889. The purpose was for "social intercourse among art lovers, for exhibition and to further art interests." More specifically, it aimed to provide a way in which women's works of art could be marketed that were otherwise limited to women at the time. The group held annual

art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhib ...

s in which members could submit one art work for the exhibition. Any additional works were reviewed by the selection jury. Its members included non-exhibiting and exhibiting members. The Woman's Art Club accepted members and exhibition contributions from women in the United States and abroad. For instance,

Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar De ...

, who lived in Paris, exhibited her works. In 1892 there were about 300 works of art submitted, including watercolors, oils paintings, etchings, pastels and crayons. Executive Committee members were elected at its November annual meeting. It was located at 9-Tenth Street. In 1913, its name was changed to the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. It adopted the name

in 1941.

Members

Some of its members were: *

Ruth Payne Burgess Ruth Payne Burgess, (October 11, 1865 in Montpelier, Vermont – March 11, 1934 in New York), was a naturalistic painter of portraits, still lifes, and genre work. Personal life Ruth Payne Jewett was born in Montpelier, Vermont in 1865, the d ...

Emma Lampert Cooper Emma Lampert Cooper (February 24, 1855 – July 30, 1920) was a painter from Rochester, New York, described as "a painter of exceptional ability". She studied in Rochester, New York; New York City under William Merritt Chase, Paris at the Acad ...

Rochester Art Club
Biographies of Founders.
Rochester Art Club. Retrieved February 7, 2014.John William Leonard; William Frederick Mohr; Frank R. Holmes.
Who's who in New York City and State
'. L.R. Hamersly Company; 1907. p. 329 * Louise CoxJohn Howard Brown.
Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States: Chubb-Erich
'. James H. Lamb Company; 1900. p. 217. *

Florence Ballin Cramer Florence Ballin Cramer (1877–1971) was an American modernist artist known for her landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and nudes, each tending to have what one close observer called "a clearly expressed a mood or attitude as well as presenti ...

Jenny Eakin Delony Jenny Eakin Delony, also known as Jenny Eakin Delony Rice and Jenny Meyrowitz, (1866–1949) was an American painter and educator. She specialized in portraits of notable and historic figures in the United States, but also made miniature, land ...

''Who's Who in Illinois''.
Chicago: Larkin, Roosevelt & Larkin, Ltd. 1947. p. 390. *

Claude Raguet Hirst Claude Raguet Hirst (born Claudine, 1855–1942) was an American painter of still lifes. She was the only woman of her era to gain acclaim using the ''trompe-l'œil'' ("fool the eye") technique. Early life and education Claudine was born in Cin ...

* M. Jean McLane *

Rhoda Holmes Nicholls Rhoda Holmes Nicholls (March 28, 1854 – September 7, 1930) was an English-American Watercolor painting, watercolor and oil painting, painter, born in Coventry, England. She studied art in England and Italy, and her work was viewed and praised a ...

* Clara Weaver Parrish *

Amanda Brewster Sewell Lydia Amanda Brewster Sewell (February 24, 1859 - November 15, 1926) was a 19th-century American painter of portraits and genre scenes. Lydia Amanda Brewster studied art in the United States and in Paris before marrying her husband, fellow artis ...

Isabelle Sprague Smith Isabelle Sprague Smith, also Isabelle Dwight Sprague Smith (November 11, 1861 – December 28, 1950) was an American artist, teacher, and school principal until the mid-1920s. Her students donated the Isabelle D. Sprague Smith Studio to the MacDowe ...

* Clara Welles Lathrop *

Mary Rogers Williams Mary Rogers Williams (September 30, 1857 – September 17, 1907) was an American tonalist and Impressionist artist known for pastel and oil portraits and landscapes. She was second in command of Smith College's art department from 1888 to 1906 un ...

Shirley Williamson Shirley Williamson (1875–1944) was an American artist and educator, known for her seaside paintings and monotype prints. She was active between 1913 until 1940, in New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area and Carmel, California. Early life ...

, she also served as president

References

{{Feminist art movement in the United States American artist groups and collectives Women's organizations based in the United States Art in New York City Arts organizations based in New York City 1890 establishments in New York (state) Arts organizations established in 1890

History

Members

See also

References