NYSWA FOUNDERS
The New York Society of Women Artists
Marguerite Thompson Zorach (1887-1968)
Lucile Lundquist Blanch (1895-1981)
Concetta Scaravaglione (1900-1975)
Today, the New York Society of Women Artists finds itself tasked with remaking itself. We aspire to birth new schools of art and encourage new avenues of exchange and discussion. As we embrace women who work in many diverse artistic styles from abstract to realism, we dedicate ourselves with a look to the future and a respect for our past.
Research by Rachelle Weisberger, Chair of the Keystone Committee.
Elizabeth Grandin (1839-1970)
Few artists have had the good fortune of growing up in a privileged lifestyle like Elizabeth Grandin. She was a descendent of one of the most prominent families in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Her family’s upper class ties positioned the young child to attend Miss Dana’s boarding and finishing school for young ladies. It was there that Grandin received her earliest art instruction.
In 1905, at age 16, Grandin defied her parent’s wishes that she attend Vassar College. Displaying determination, she went to New York to continue her art studies with William Meritt Chase at his school. After a year, she began studying with Robert Henri, who became her mentor and also a close friend. In 1911, at age 22, she arrived in Paris. While working for the next two years at the Academie
Moderne, Grandin learned Paul Cezanne’s technique of modeling form through color.
When she returned to the States in 1914, Grandin settled in New York City. She set up a studio and studied etching with John Sloan. That same year she was asked by Henri to form an exhibition group for the McDowell Club on East 55th street and its success became an annual event.
At the Penguin Club in 1918, Grindin was one of only ten females included in a landmark exhibition of modern art. WIth 141 male American and European artists including Man Ray, Zorach, Stella, Picasso, Legere, Gris, and Gleizes, her participation was a major achievement!
While Grandin was a successful artist winning awards and scholarships, she is better remembered for her advocacy of women artists. In 1925, Grandin and 12 other women founded the New York Society of Women Artists and created opportunities for female artists. She was also an active member of the Society of Independent Artists, The New York No-Jury Exhibition Salons of America, The Whitney Studio Club, The American Art Association, the Pen and Brush Club, and Midtown Galleries.
During the 1920’s and 1930’s, Grandin maintained an apartment in Greenwich Village. However, every summer she returned to her family farm in Hamden, New Jersey. When her half-sister became ill, she gave up a promising career to care for her and moved permanently home to Hunterdon.
Grandin spent the rest of her life in the town of Clinton where she taught art and was active in many organizations. She was instrumental in the opening and financing of the Grandin Library in Clinton and left her estate to the Library Endowment Fund.
When Grandin passed away in 1970, at age 82, her estate contained 270 oil paintings, pastels and sketches that were done between 1910-1950.