Maria a'Becket
Maria a'Becket | |
---|---|
Born | Maria Graves Beckett July 7, 1839 Portland, Maine |
Died | September 7, 1904 | (aged 65)
Nationality | American |
Known for | landscape painting |
Movement | American Barbizon School |
Marie a'Becket (July 7, 1839 – September 7, 1904) was an American painter associated with the
Life
Maria Graves Beckett was born in Portland, Maine. Her father, Charles Beckett (ca. 1813–1866), was a druggist who taught himself to paint after realizing his passion for it. He was "the first native-born Portland Mainer to succeed in the landscape genre" and "exhibited at the American Art Union in 1847, 49, and 50".[1][2]
He raised her in an artistic setting. At the same time the railways were heavily expanding across the United States, Beckett worked with her father to illustrate for her uncle's promotional railroad material. In 1866, the Beckett family was a part of
Career
She was among the first American artists to study with champions of the
Hunt began teaching a class in Boston, that Becket joined, a class taught exclusively for women; this was by default, the French manner of painting was not considered manly enough for American men to want to join. Becket quickly went from Hunt's teaching to the source, seeking
While Becket spent her time in St Augustine, she really distinguished herself as an artist. According to the local society tabloid The Tatler, "she held court with her wit as well as her artistic talent. The Ponce de Leon Hotel artists entertained potential patrons and sold their works at weekend gala receptions where Becket shone as a 'brilliant conversationalist, a delightful raconteur' whose social success at times kept her from opening her studio".[4] She had exhibitions where paintings were rapidly being sold and The Tatler even stated “Miss a Becket paints so rapidly that to see her or hear of the number she adds to her collection sounds like a fairy tale… Miss a Becket has a number of beautiful pictures on exhibition that are constantly changing, that is, are passing into the hands of purchasers and new ones supplying their place”.[4]
After Becket's death on September 7, 1904, she was described as "a painter of uneven power, much truth of perception and at times a vivid sense of color. Some critics assert that at her best Marie a’ Becket was unsurpassed by any American woman landscape painter".[4] The Florida Times Union described "her success in showing the world what a woman can do despite difficulties that would have driven most men to despair", and claimed that her success "has encouraged thousands of her weaker sisters in their struggles to make places for themselves, who should rise up and call her blessed".[3]
It is known that Henry Flagler bought at least two of Becket's works; they are currently displayed in the Presidents Wing, formerly known as the men's lounge of the Ponce de Leon Hotel, and the Flagler Room, formerly known as the Grand Parlor of the Ponce de Leon Hotel, at Flagler College.
a'Becket exhibited her work at the Woman's Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.[5]
a'Becket helped blaze a trail for women who wanted to enter the male-dominated world of professional painting in nineteenth-century America. She was able to do while bridging the avant-garde French ideas of Barbizon and its daughter movement, Impressionism, in a wholly American context.[2]
Gallery
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Landscape by Marie a'Becket in Maine's Portland Museum of Art
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River Landscape by Marie a'Becket
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Wave Seascape by Marie a'Becket
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Monarch of the Glen by artist Marie a'Becket, in Henry Flagler's private collection
References
- ^ Paul E. Sternberg, Sr., Curator. “Paintings By American Women”. The Louise and Alan Sellars Collection of Art by American Women. 1989. Print.
- ^ a b Volpe, Chris. "Maria A'Becket: Rediscovering an American Original".
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(help) - ^ a b c d e f Christopher Volpe, “Maria J.C. a’Becket: Rediscovering an American Artist,” (Orono: Maine Historical Society, 2010).
- ^ a b c "American Art News, Vol. 3, No. 72". American Art News 3 (72). The Frick Collection: 1-8. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25590111
- ^ Nichols, K. L. "Women's Art at the World's Columbian Fair & Exposition, Chicago 1893". Retrieved 21 December 2018.