Jessie Marie Goth (August 15, 1887, Indianapolis - January 9, 1975) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

painter from Indianapolis,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. Best known for her

portrait 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 r ...

ure, Goth was the first woman to paint an official portrait of an

Indiana governor The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the State of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government ...

( Henry F. Schricker) that was installed in the

Indiana Statehouse The Indiana Statehouse is the state capitol building of the U.S. state of Indiana. It houses the Indiana General Assembly, the office of the Governor of Indiana, the Indiana Supreme Court, and other state officials. The Statehouse is located in ...

. Goth became a full-time resident of

Nashville, Indiana Nashville is a town in Washington Township, Brown County, Indiana, United States. The population was 803 at the 2010 census. The town is the county seat of Brown County and is the county's only incorporated town. The town is best known as the c ...

, in the 1920s and was active in its

Brown County Art Colony The Brown County Art Colony is an artist colony formed in Nashville and Brown County, Indiana. Adolph Shulz is considered to be the founder of the colony, encouraging many Indiana and regional artists to come to Brown County to paint. Though arti ...

. She became a charter member and former president of the Brown County Art Gallery Association in 1926 and a cofounder of the Brown County Art Guild in 1954. Goth died from injuries sustained in a fall at her home in 1975. Goth's portraits have featured several

Hoosier Hoosier is the official demonym for the people of the U.S. state of Indiana. The origin of the term remains a matter of debate, but "Hoosier" was in general use by the 1840s, having been popularized by Richmond resident John Finley's 1833 poem " ...

notables, including

James Whitcomb Riley James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...

, John T. McCutcheon,

Paul V. McNutt Paul Vories McNutt (July 19, 1891 – March 24, 1955) was an American diplomat and politician who served as the 34th governor of Indiana, high commissioner to the Philippines, administrator of the Federal Security Agency, chairman of the ...

, and

Will H. Hays William Harrison Hays Sr. (; November 5, 1879 – March 7, 1954) was an American Republican politician. As chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1918–1921, Hays managed the successful 1920 presidential campaign of Warren G. Ha ...

, as well as fellow artists, family members, and neighbors in Brown County. Her work is represented in the collections of more than a dozen of Indiana's public art galleries, museums, and educational institutions. She also exhibited her art at every

Hoosier Salon The Hoosier Salon is an annual juried art exhibition that features the work of Indiana artists and provides them with an outlet to market their work. The Hoosier Salon Patron's Association, the nonprofit arts organization that organizes the event, ...

from 1925 to 1975, and in other art exhibitions across Indiana, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and elsewhere in the United States. Goth willed the bulk of her estate to the Brown County Art Guild to establish and maintain a local art museum in Nashville, Indiana.

Early life and education

Jessie Marie Goth, the eldest daughter of Jessie and Charles Goth, was born on August 15, 1887, in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana.Most references indicate that Goth's date of birth was August 15, 1887, and her date of death was January 9, 1975. See: Findagrave.com incorrectly reports that Goth was born on September 15, 1887, and died on January 19, 1975. See Both of Goth's parents were musicians. Her mother was a vocalist, while her father played bass violin with the

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is an American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The largest performing arts organization in Indiana, the orchestra is based at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis on Monument Ci ...

and was co-owner of the Crown Monument Company, a successful monument business in Indianapolis. Although her family's tendencies leaned toward the musical arts and Marie received musical training from her parents, she was drawn to the visual arts and became interested in art at an early age. Goth and won her first art prize at the age of sixteen in a citywide design contest.Gugin and St. Clair, eds., ''Indiana's 200'', p. 137. Goth and her younger sister,

Genevieve Genevieve (french: link=no, Sainte Geneviève; la, Sancta Genovefa, Genoveva; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January. Genevieve was born in Nanterre a ...

(1890–1961), a former Indianapolis schoolteacher who also became a painter, maintained a close relationship throughout their lives. Genevieve married Carl Graf (1892–1947), a

Brown County, Indiana Brown County is a county in Indiana which in 2010 had a population of 15,242. The county seat (and only incorporated town) is Nashville. History The United States acquired the land from the Native Americans, part of which forms the southwest s ...

, artist in 1928.Newton and Weiss, ''A Grand Tradition'', p. 377.Gugin and St. Clair, eds., ''Indiana's 200'', p. 138. Marie grew up in Indianapolis, where she attended a local elementary school and graduated from Manual Training High School about 1906.Newton and Weiss, ''Skirting the Issue'', pp. 282–83.

Otto Stark Otto Stark (January 29, 1859 – April 14, 1926) was an American Impressionist painter muralist, commercial artist, printmaker, and illustrator from Indianapolis, Indiana, who is best known as one of the five Hoosier Group artists. Stark's work ...

, her father's cousin, was head of the art department and a member of the

Hoosier Group The Hoosier Group was a group of Indiana Impressionist painters working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Artists considered members of the Group include T. C. Steele, Richard Gruelle, William Forsyth, J. Ottis Adams, and Otto Stark. To ...

of American impressionist painters. Stark may have had an early influence on her decision to pursue a career as an artist. After graduation from high school, Goth worked as an assistant art instructor at the high school for three years. In 1906–07 she took art classes at the city's John Herron Art Institute. Goth also studied at the

Art Academy of Cincinnati The Art Academy of Cincinnati is a private college of art and design in Cincinnati, Ohio, accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. It was founded as the McMicken School of Design in 1869, and was a department of the U ...

while spending a summer with relatives.Newton and Weiss, ''Skirting the Issue'', p. 50. Goth applied for and received a scholarship to attend the Art Students League of New York in 1909. With additional scholarships, part-time employment, and financial support from her sister, Goth continued her studies at the Art Students League for ten years. During her stay in

, Goth boarded at the Three Arts Club, a residence on West Fifty-eight Street that catered to women pursuing the arts. Goth initially intended to become an illustrator, but switched to portraiture after studying with

Frank DuMond Frank Vincent DuMond (August 20, 1865 – February 6, 1951) was one of the most influential teacher-painters in 20th-century America. He was an illustrator and American Impressionist painter of portraits and landscapes, and a prominent teach ...

, her instructor and mentor. DuMond helped influenced Goth's portraits, which broke new ground for women artists. Instead of focusing on portraits of children, which was the typical path for women portrait painters of that era, Goth made her career painting portraits of adults. In addition to DuMond, Goth also studied under the direction of

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...

, Robert Aiken,

George Bridgman George Brant Bridgman (November 5, 1864 – December 16, 1943) was a Canadian-American painter, writer, and teacher in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Bridgman taught anatomy for artists at the Art Students League of New York for some ...

, and

F. Luis Mora Francis Luis Mora (July 27, 1874 – June 5, 1940) was a Uruguayan-born American figural painter. Mora worked in watercolor, oils and tempera. He produced drawings in pen and ink, and graphite; and etchings and monotypes. He is known for his pain ...

while she was living in New York. While Goth was a student at the Art League, she met Varaldo Giuseppe Cariani (1891–1966), also known as V. J. Cariani, an Italian-born landscape and still-life painter who was a classmate at the school. The couple's friendship developed into a lifelong relationship, although they never married. The specific reasons for their decision to remain unwed are unknown, but some sources suggested that it may have been due to religious differences. Cariani was a devout

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, while Goth was raised as a

Christian Scientist Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally known ...

.Newton and Weiss, ''Skirting the Issue'', pp. 54–55.Letsinger-Miller, p. 113. Goth returned to Indianapolis in 1919 to begin her career as a portrait painter; Cariani left the Art League in 1917 to enlist in the military. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served in the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought along ...

, Twenty-eighth Infantry Division, 103rd Trench Mortar Battery. Cariani suffered from shell shock as a result of his wartime experience and had trouble reacclimating to daily life. Hoping to restore his health after his return to the United States, Goth's father offered Cariani a job as a stone carver at the monument company he co-owned in Indianapolis,Newton and Weiss, ''Skirting the Issue'', p. 53. and Genevieve purchased one of his sketches to fund his travel to Indianapolis.

Career

After completing her art training in New York, Goth returned to Indiana in 1919 and set up a studio in the living room of her parents' Indianapolis home, where she earned a living as a portrait painter. In the early 1920s, after a fellow artist invited Goth on a painting trip to

, she fell in love with southern

. In 1922 Marie and her sister, Genevieve, purchased a cabin in the Peaceful Valley, north of Nashville in Brown County to use as the family's summer home. When they took possession of the property in the summer of 1923, Cariani helped the two sisters move into the cabin, which the sisters decorated and added furniture made by their father. Cariani remained at the cabin to paint after the sisters returned to the Goth residence and Marie's portrait studio in Indianapolis. The sisters returned to Brown County to visit on weekends. When her mother's health declined, Marie decided to move her studio out of the family's Indianapolis home and established her permanent residence in Brown County, where the original cabin was torn down and replaced with a new one. Goth and Cariani lived a discreet and unconventional life together in Brown County. To protect her reputation, Cariani moved out of Goth's cabin and built a nearby studio on the property. Goth, who is known for her portraiture, painted the likenesses of numerous

notables, prominent businessmen, and dignitaries during her long career. Her subjects included poet

, Pulitzer Prize– winning cartoonist John T. McCutcheon,

(who became governor of Indiana), Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra conductors Fabien Sevitsky and

Izler Solomon Izler Solomon (January 11, 1910 – December 6, 1987) was an American orchestra conductor, active mostly in the Midwest. Career Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Izler Solomon's first position as music director was from 1936 to 1941 with the Illinoi ...

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

general Douglas MacArthur, and

, a former president of the

Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

, among others. Goth also painted her Brown County neighbors and fellow artists. Among Goth's most significant works was her portrait of Indiana governor Henry F. Schricker. It became the first official governor's portrait by a woman to hang in the

. Goth contributed numerous works to art exhibitions. Within Indiana she exhibited her work at Nashville's Brown County Art Gallery and Brown County Art Guild; Evansville's Museum of Arts, History and Science; the Fort Wayne Art Association; Indianapolis's John Herron Art Institute; several Indiana Art Club exhibitions; and

Terre Haute Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

Swope Art Museum The Sheldon Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States, was originally funded by a bequest from Michael Sheldon Swope (1843–1929), a Civil War veteran and jeweler who lived in Terre Haute much of his adult life. Planning for the a ...

, among many others. She also exhibited at every

from its debut in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1925 to 1975, the year of her death, and received many of its awards. In addition, Goth's paintings were recognized in exhibitions at several Indiana colleges and universities, including Ball State University, Franklin College, and

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

. Goth's work was seen outside of Indiana at 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 ...

Exhibitions in New York, 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 f ...

Annual Exhibition in New York, as well as the Brooklyn Museum, the

Cincinnati Art Museum The Cincinnati Art Museum is an art museum in the Eden Park neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies, and is one of the oldest in the United States. Its collection of ov ...

, and the

Speed Art Museum The Speed Art Museum, originally known as the J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, now colloquially referred to as the Speed by locals, is the oldest and largest art museum in Kentucky. It was established in 1927 in Louisville, Kentucky on Third Street ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. In 1926 Goth became a charter member of the Brown County Art Gallery Association and served for two years as its first president. After the group split into two organizations, Goth became a cofounder of the Brown County Art Guild in 1954.Newton and Weiss, ''Skirting the Issue'', pp. 58–59.

Later years

Goth maintained her home in Brown County, Indiana, from 1923 to 1975, even after she suffered the loss of her family members, including her brother-in-law, Carl Graf, in 1947, her sister, Genevieve, in 1961, and close friend and companion, Cariani, in 1969. (After Cariani's death, Goth left his studio untouched.) Goth continued to paint and exhibit her work to the end of her life. At the age of eighty-seven, Goth entered two paintings in the Hoosier Salon's fifty-first exhibition, which was held in January 1975. Goth died the week before the Salon's opening gala. ''Neighbor'', one of her Salon submissions, was posthumously awarded its Jury Prize of Distinction.

Death and legacy

Goth died at her cabin in Nashville, Indiana, on January 9, 1975, from head injuries and several bone fractures suffered in a fall. Goth's remains are interred at the Brown County Memorial Park, a cemetery in Nashville, Indiana, beside Cariani's. Goth is best known for her portraiture. She was the first woman commissioned to paint an official portrait of an Indiana governor. The portrait of Indiana governor Henry F. Schricker, which was accepted for inclusion in the Indiana Governors' Portrait Collection in 1943, hangs in the

Indiana State Treasurer The Indiana Treasurer of State is a constitutional and elected office in the executive branch of the government of Indiana. The treasurer is responsible for managing the finances of the U.S. state of Indiana. The position was filled by appointment ...

's office (Room 242) in the Indiana Statehouse. Goth willed the bulk of her estate, valued at more than $600,000, including her property and collection of 2,000 paintings by Goth, Cariani, and Genevieve and Carl Graf, to the Brown County Art Guild, along with funds to establish and maintain a local art museum to house her collection, and to display the work of the founding members, as well as contemporary artists.

Honors and tributes

Throughout her long career, Goth received numerous prizes for her art, including awards from the National Academy of Design, the Hoosier Salon, and the

Indiana State Fair The Indiana State Fair is an annual state fair that spans 18 days in July and August in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. The Indiana State Fair debuted in 1852 at Military Park in Indianapolis and is the sixth oldest state fair in the U.S. It is th ...

, as well as the Brown County Art Gallery, Fort Wayne Art Museum, and Indiana Artists Club, among others. Goth also received a special recognition from the Hoosier Salon in 1974 for her continuous participation as an exhibitor since its first exhibition in 1925. Goth was posthumously elected to the Indiana Academy in 1977.

Selected works

* ''Charles W. Dalgreen'' * ''Florence'' * ''General Robert H. Tyndall'' * ''Henry F. Schricker'' * ''Joel W. Hadley'' * ''Neighbor'' * ''Portrait of John T. McCutcheon''A commission from the Indiana Society of Chicago. McCutcheon, an American cartoonist from Indiana, had been involved with the Hoosier Salon since it was founded in 1925. The painting was exhibited at the Hoosier Salon in 1941. See Newton and Weiss, ''A Grand Tradition'', p. 22.

Public collections

Goth's work is represented in the collections of several of Indiana's public art galleries, museums, and educational institutions, as well as private collections. * Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, Indianapolis, Indiana * Art Museum of Greater Lafayette,

Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, whi ...

* Brown County Art Gallery, Nashville, Indiana * Brown County Art Guild, Nashville *

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

, Indianapolis *

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the ...

Greencastle, Indiana Greencastle is a city in Greencastle Township, Putnam County, Indiana, United States, and the county seat of Putnam County. It was founded in 1821 by Ephraim Dukes on a land grant. He named the settlement for his hometown of Greencastle, Pennsylv ...

Earlham College Earlham College is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quaker values such as integrity, a commitment to peace and social ...

, Richmond, Indiana * Franklin College,

Franklin, Indiana Franklin is a city in Johnson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 23,712 at the 2010 census. Located about south of Indianapolis, the city is the county seat of Johnson County. The site of Franklin College, the city attracts n ...

Hanover College Hanover College is a private college in Hanover, Indiana, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Founded in 1827 by Reverend John Finley Crowe, it is Indiana's oldest private college. The Hanover athletic teams participate in the H ...

Hanover, Indiana Hanover is a town in Hanover Township, Jefferson County, southeast Indiana, along the Ohio River. The population was 3,546 at the 2010 census. Hanover is the home of Hanover College, a small Presbyterian liberal arts college. The "Point," locate ...

* Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis * Indiana Statehouse, Indianapolis * Indiana University,

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister cit ...

* Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, Indiana

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * *

External links

Marie Goth
Brown County Art Guild, Nashville, Indiana {{DEFAULTSORT:Goth, Marie American women painters 1887 births 1975 deaths 20th-century American painters Artists from Indianapolis 20th-century American women artists Painters from Indiana People from Brown County, Indiana Art Students League of New York alumni Herron School of Art and Design alumni American portrait painters Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Indiana