Lincoln Glenn Gallery in New York is known for its exhibitions highlighting the work of overlooked artists, often women and minorities. This October, 250 Years: American Women Artists and the Nation’s Story, a landmark exhibition, will open to celebrate the semiquincentennial of the United States.
On view at the gallery’s Upper East Side location, the exhibition brings together works created across every decade of the nation’s history—from the Revolutionary era to the present day. It’s an opportunity to take in American art and history through the eyes and hands of women. 250 Years highlights the artists who persevered despite the social, educational and professional barriers that limited and diminished women’s place in the arts.
Sarah Harrington, Silhouette. ca. 1774-1787. Hollow-cut, paper, 35⁄8 x 2¾ in.
Through portraiture, landscape, still life, abstraction, sculpture and contemporary practice, the exhibition chronicles the journey of women making a name for themselves in the art world.
“I see a few artists [in the exhibition] who were trailblazers in the art that they created and sometimes received notoriety at the time, but it wasn’t lasting,” says Eli Sterngass, a partner at the gallery. “Natalie Van Vleck, who painted a very modernist waterfall in Connecticut in 1929, which will be shown in the exhibition, was kind of written off as just a socialite female artist, not really a serious one, but the art really speaks for itself.
Sarah Miriam Peale (1800-1885), Pair of Still Lifes: Cherries and Basket with Berries, ca. 1860. Oil on canvas, 12 x 10 in.
“The second painting I can think of is by Georgina Klitgaard…from 1930. She was showing in lots of Whitney annuals and Carnegie annuals but mostly has been forgotten by time,” says Sterngass. “I think part of the reason for that is because she was a female artist. She was showing [her work] in the same gallery as Edward Hopper and Charles Burchfield. Why do we know their names and not hers?”
The exhibition seeks to answer Sterngass’ question and give the artists the recognition they deserve.
Grace Hill Turnbull (1880-1976), Laughing Waters, 1925. Oil on canvas, 26 x 37 in.
“There will be...miniatures and early works from the 18th century and early 19th century, followed by [Anna Claypoole Peale and Sarah Peale], who were the first professional female artists in America, and through Hudson River School, impressionism, and then modernism and contemporary,” says Sterngass.
The exhibition takes visitors through the decades, carefully drawing attention to style and providing context for the time. The 19th-century works in the gallery feature artists who expanded the possibilities for women within portraiture, still life, botanical illustration and landscape painting. Artists like Elizabeth Williams, Mary Russell Smith and Emily Cole, whose work reflects the rapid change and growth in the nation while demonstrating increased visibility for women in the cultural sphere.
Laura Woodward (1834-1926), Gloucester Harbor, 1880. Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in.
In the 20th century, artists charted the evolution of American modernism and postwar abstraction, while continuing the forward march for women in the arts. In the gallery, highlights from this period include paintings, prints and sculpture by Mary Cassatt, Louise Cox, Amy Londoner, Harriet Whitney Frishmuth and more.
“There’s one work that stands out to me. It’s the one piece of decorative art that we’re showing in the exhibition, and it’s a painting by Louise Cox called Fons Vitae,” says Sterngass. “This painting is from 1918, and it was intended as the decoration for a phonograph. I thought it was neat that even in the early 20th century, female artists were collaborating across different disciplines and even into more commercial ventures. Yet this piece is not even signed, so I don’t think the recognition would have been fully given and attributed to her at the time.”
Mercedes Matter (1913-2001), Untitled (Still Life), ca. 1985-90. Oil on canvas, 42 x 48 in.
The exhibition culminates with art by contemporary artists including Lynda Benglis, Teruko Yokoi and Margaret Thompson, demonstrating the continuing vitality and diversity of women’s contributions to American art in the 21st century.
“It’s especially rare for a gallery that specializes in later 19th and especially 20th century works to be presenting work from the 18th century and some from the early 19th century,” explains Sterngass. “I think some of the visitors to the exhibition will see something entirely new and learn some new names as well. But I also think it will show that their work is on par with men’s work from the same periods.”
Mary Jane Peale (1827-1902), Portrait of Fanny Adam, 1857. Oil on canvas, 20 x 17 in.
The exhibition asks viewers to reconsider the nation’s history and look examine the artistic achievement of individuals whose contributions have too often remained overlooked and underrepresented within traditional narratives in American Art.
250 Years: American Women Artists and the Nation’s Story will open on October 1 and run through December 4 at Lincoln Glenn Gallery in New York, NY. —
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