Gertrude Partington Albright

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Gertrude Partington Albright
Born
Gertrude Partington

11 September 1874
John Herbert Evelyn Partington
(father)
  • Sarah Partington (mother)
    • Gertrude Partington Albright, A Structure Brave: Palace of Fine Arts, etching. Published in Cora Lenore Williams' book The Fourth-Dimensional Reaches of the Exposition, 1915.

    Gertrude Partington Albright (September 11, 1874 – September 7, 1959) was a British-born American artist known for portrait etchings and her

    California School of Fine Arts
    for nearly thirty years.

    Family and education

    She was born Gertrude Partington in Heysham, a coastal village in England.[1] Her father was John Herbert Evelyn Partington (1843–99), a painter, and her mother was Sarah (Mottershead) Partington.[2] Four of her six siblings also had careers in the arts, notably Blanche, who became a writer; Phyllis, who became an opera singer under the stage name Frances Peralta; John, who became a theater manager; and Richard, who became an artist.[2]

    Her family emigrated to the United States in 1889, settling in Oakland, California.[2] In 1917, she married Herman Oliver Albright (born Herman Oliver Albrecht in Germany; 1876–1944), also a landscape painter.[1][3]

    She died on September 7, 1959 in San Francisco.[3] Her papers are held by the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.

    Art education and career

    She got her early training in art from her father

    courtroom sketches and society portraits.[2] She eventually earned enough money as an illustrator to afford a trip to Europe for further art training, enrolling at the Académie Delécluse in the late 1890s.[3] By 1903, she was exhibiting at the Paris Salon.[2]

    Albright stayed abroad for several years, making occasional return trips to California.

    California School of Fine Arts in 1917, teaching painting and etching.[2] She was promoted to associate professor in 1932[2] and remained at the school until she retired in 1946.[3][4] Her students there included Victor Arnautoff.[4] She also sat on the school's board of directors.[5]

    Albright was often commissioned to make portraits, and her portrait etchings drew praise for their skillful likenesses and clear, minimal lines.

    De Young Museum.[3]

    She was active in Bay Area art organizations, becoming a charter member of the

    California Society of Etchers and the director of the San Francisco Society of Women Artists and serving on many prize juries.[2][3]

    References

    1. ^ a b c "Gertrude Albright (1874-1959)". California Art Research Archive.
    2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Hailey, Gene, ed. "Gertrude Partington Albright". California Art Research 15 (1937): 31-54.
    3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Gertrude Partington Albright". The Annex Galleries.
    4. ^ a b Cherny, Robert W. Victor Arnautoff and the Politics of Art.
    5. ^ California School of Fine Arts Register, 1916-17, part VI, p. 1. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1917.
    6. ^ The International Studio, vol. 67 (March–June 1919), p. 122.
    7. ^ The Nation, vol. 108, no. 2809 (May 3, 1919), p. 702.
    8. ^ Heller, Jules, and Nancy G. Heller. North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary.
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