Lucia Fairchild Fuller (December 6, 1870 – May 21, 1924) was an American

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and member of the New Hampshire

Cornish Art Colony The Cornish Art Colony (or Cornish Artists’ Colony, or Cornish Colony) was a popular art colony centered in Cornish, New Hampshire, from about 1895 through the years of World War I. Attracted by the natural beauty of the area, about 100 artis ...

. She was inspired to pursue art by

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

. Fuller created a mural entitled ''The'' ''Women of Plymouth'' for the

Woman's Building The Woman's Building was a non-profit arts and education center located in Los Angeles, California. The Woman's Building focused on feminist art and served as a venue for the women's movement and was spearheaded by artist Judy Chicago, graphic de ...

at the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago in 1893. Best known for her portrait miniatures, she was a founding member and treasurer of the American Society of Miniature Painters. She was awarded a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition of 1900, a silver medal at Buffalo in 1901, and a gold medal at the Saint Louis Exposition of 1904.

Early life and education

Lucia Fairchild was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, the daughter of Elisabeth A. (née Nelson) and Charles Fairchild, who served during under President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

's administration as the Secretary of the Treasury Department. Her paternal grandfather was Jairus C. Fairchild, the first Mayor of

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

, and her uncle was

Lucius Fairchild Lucius Fairchild (December 27, 1831May 23, 1896) was an American politician, soldier, and diplomat. He served as the tenth governor of Wisconsin and represented the United States as Minister to Spain under presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and Jam ...

Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's Wisconsin Army National Guard, army and Wisconsin Air National Guard, air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the ...

, a family friend, inspired Fairchild to become an artist. She wrote of her recollections of a visit to the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

with Sargent. She was educated at Shaw's Private School and the

Cowles Art School Cowles Art School (Cowles School of Art) was established in 1883, in a studio building located at 145 Dartmouth Street in Boston, Massachusetts. It was one of the largest art schools in the city and boasted an enrollment of several hundred until ...

in Back Bay, Boston, under

Dennis Miller Bunker Dennis Miller Bunker (November 6, 1861 – December 28, 1890) was an American painter and innovator of American Impressionism. His mature works include both brightly colored landscape paintings and dark, finely drawn portraits and figures. One ...

, a friend of Sargent's. She then continued her studies at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

, under

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later became the Parsons School of Design. ...

and the muralist,

Henry Siddons Mowbray Henry Siddons Mowbray (August 5, 1858 – 1928) was an American artist. He executed various painting commissions for J.P. Morgan, F.W. Vanderbilt, and other clients. He served as director of the American Academy in Rome from 1902 to 1904. Ear ...

. Lydia Emmet was a colleague of hers at the Art Students League in 1889. Fairchild's skill in academic drawing classes at the League has recently been noted.

Career

An 1890

self-portrait Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...

demonstrates Fairchild's artistic abilities at age 18. She also did a portrait of her brother Blair Fairchild at the piano in 1891. Fairchild intended initially to paint murals, and was commissioned in 1893 to do one of six individual murals for the

at the

in Chicago, along with Lydia Emmet,

Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side (Pittsburgh), North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, whe ...

, and Mary Fairchild MacMonnies. Her chosen subject was female New England settlers, and was titled ''The Women of Plymouth.'' It was considered a significant commission. After a multi-year love affair, Fairchild married in 1893 her fellow student, the American painter Henry Brown Fuller. After she became pregnant, the immediate need to provide financial support for her family was pressing. Her father had recently lost his fortune in Boston, and she had married against his wishes. Pregnant with her first child, she turned to portraiture, and produced chiefly miniatures. Her husband made it clear he was above the pursuit of money for his art. Fairchild Fuller resorted to living in a dark and small room in New York City, using her significant social connections to contract for commissions, producing nearly two hundred by 1903. She was awarded a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition of 1900, a silver medal at Buffalo in 1901, and a gold medal at the Saint Louis Exposition of 1904. Five works were at exhibited at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco in 1915. Fairchild Fuller also exhibited her work in New Hampshire at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1916. In 1899 she was a founding member and treasurer of the American Society of Miniature Painters. She also served as president in 1913. She was an elected member of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

and the Society of American Artists. She maintained memberships with the

National Association of Women Artists The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

and the New York Watercolor Club.

Personal and later life

The Fullers had two children, Clara Bertram, born in 1895, and Charles, born in 1897. In 1897, they purchased a home in Plainfield, New Hampshire, and were active members of the

. Fairchild Fuller's brother, "Jack" John Cummings Fairchild, married the painter Francis C. Lyons Houston's daughter, Charlotte Fairchild, in 1898. The couple became estranged in 1901. Fairchild Fuller was portrayed in a 1902 painting, variously titled ''The Spinet'', or ''Lady and Spinet'', or ''Lady Playing Harpsichord,'' or ''Portrait of Lucia'', by Cornish Colony founder and painter, Thomas Wilmer Dewing. Dewing executed a nearly identical "partner" painting of her that summer. In 1905, Fairchild Fuller became separated from her husband, who returned to his family home in Deerfield, Massachusetts to live with his mother, Agnes Higginson Fuller. They remained owners of their home in Plainfield, and continued to spend time in the area, often renting the home to other artists, including

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...

and the Zorachs. In 1905, Fairchild Fuller painted a second self-portrait, ''In the Looking Glass,'' a 6 x 4 inch watercolor on ivory, wherein she depicted herself as a mature woman with eyeglasses, looking directly at the viewer. The work, owned by Fairchild Fuller's family, was included in the 1987 publication ''American Women Artists, 1830-1930,'' by Eleanor Tufts, one of the first publications by the newly opened

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openi ...

. Fairchild Fuller moved to New York City, where she taught at the Art Students League in the years 1910-11 and 1914-15. The only school specializing in miniature painting in New York City, The American School of Miniature Painting, operated from 1914 to 1924. Fairchild Fuller taught alongside the artist Elsie D. Pattee and trained the Texan artist Elsie Motz Lowdon. In 1920, Fairchild Fuller published an article about her friend from the Cornish Art Colony, the sculptor,

Frances Grimes Frances Taft Grimes (25 January 1869 – 9 November 1963) was an American sculptor, best remembered for her bas-relief portraits and busts. Biography Grimes was born in Braceville Township, Ohio, the daughter of two physicians, and grew up in D ...

. They were the same age, had arrived in Cornish about the same time, and had shared a decade of experience in the Cornish Colony. Fairchild Fuller's recurrent illness forced her to return to her father's family hometown, Madison, Wisconsin in 1918. She died there of

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

on May 21, 1924, at the age of 51.

Gallery

File:Clara B. Fuller MET DP162101 Cropped.jpg, ''Clara B. Fuller''. 1898. Watercolor on ivory. x 2 13/16 in.

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

File:Lucia Fairchild Fuller - Head of a Young Girl - 1929.6.46 - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg, ''Head of a Young Girl''. ca. 1900. Watercolor on ivory. 3 1/4 x 2 3/8 in.

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

File:Portrait of Hettie Sherman Evarts Beaman.jpg, ''Hettie Sherman Evarts Beaman''. ca. 1901. Miniature on ivory File:Lucia Fairchild Fuller - Girl with hand glass.jpg, ''Girl with hand glass'' ca. 1903. Reproduction as published 1912. File:Lucia Fairchild Fuller - Girl drying her feet.jpg, ''Girl drying her feet'' ca. 1903 Watercolor on paper. 5 3/4 x 4 1/4 in. File:Près d'une claire fontaine by Lucia Fairchild Fuller (1907).jpg, ''By a Clear Fountain'' 1907. Watercolor on ivory. 6 1/4 x 4 3/8 in.

Notes

References

External links

Index of Fairchild-Fuller family papers in the Dartmouth College Rauner Library
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Lucia Fairchild 1870 births 1924 deaths Painters from Wisconsin Painters from Boston Artists from Madison, Wisconsin 19th-century American painters 20th-century American painters Art Students League of New York alumni 19th-century American women painters 20th-century American women painters