Almost exactly two years ago, I wrote an article for Smithsonian and a post here about the “rediscovery” of the women artists who were part of the Hudson River School of artists and who, during their time, were even accepted by some of their brother-artists and made a living at art.
Now, the artists whose work was shown then in Remember the Ladies: Women of the Hudson River School at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site are being joined by women who painted alongside and in the style of the male artists of the mid-19th century who made up the “White Mountain School” of painting. Their work — admittedly a small body of it — will be on view at the Museum of the White Mountains, which is now under construction at Plymouth State University in Concord Plymouth, N.H. [See comment below, and thank you, Barbara] It’s set to open in February.
Who were the women? Their names include Maria a’Becket, Susan Ricker Knox and Lizzie Stevens, according to a recent article published by the Associated Press, which said:
The paintings are similar stylistically to those produced by the more well-known male artists of the mid-19th century “White Mountain School” of painting, but the women often were overlooked, said Catherine Amidon, the museum’s director [above with some of the paintings]. Some of the women didn’t sign their paintings because the work wouldn’t sell as well if they identified themselves, she said.
The fledgling museum acquired the collection from Frances MacIntyre, who wrote her master’s thesis at Dartmouth College about female artists of the White Mountains. She later collected their work, and has donated the 19 paintings, which depict “mountain views, pastoral valley scenes and detailed renderings of the mountain flora,” the AP said.
The museum will be housed in a former church on the Plymouth campus.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Plymouth State University