Betty Lane (September 30, 1907 – 1996) was an American artist. Lane's first exhibition was at the Phillips Memorial Gallery in 1931. Lane created figure subjects,

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s, and

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

executed in

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

and

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

. Her work includes nature and street scenes in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, domestic scenes, and

grotesques Since at least the 18th century (in French and German, as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

. Lane's work is included in the permanent collections of the

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 ...

The Phillips Collection The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the grandson of James H. Laughli ...

, the

Provincetown Art Association and Museum Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Pro ...

, and the

Cape Cod Museum of Art Cape Cod Museum of Art is an art museum in the town of Dennis in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States in the center of the region Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner o ...

Life

Born in Washington, D.C., on 30 September 1907, Betty (born Elizabeth Thoburn) Lane was the youngest of six children born to a Marine officer, Rufus Herman Lane and Gertrude Eleanor Mills. Lane began painting in watercolor around age nine. After high school Lane enrolled at the

Corcoran College of Art and Design The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design (known as the Corcoran School or CSAD) is the professional art school of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.Peggy McGloneUniversity names first director of Corcoran School of the Arts an ...

. Unhappy at Corcoran, she transferred to the

Massachusetts Normal Art School Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a Public university, public art school, college of visual art, visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation's oldest art schools, and t ...

Career

In 1928 Lane traveled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and studied with

André Lhote André Lhote (5 July 1885 – 24 January 1962) was a French Cubist painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes, and still life. He was also active and influential as a teacher and writer on art. Early life and education Lhote was bor ...

. In 1929 Lane returned to the United States, living in

Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church City is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is ...

, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

It was during this period that Lane's work came to the attention of Duncan Phillips. In April 1931 Lane was part of an exhibition at the Phillips Memorial Gallery with

John Marin John Marin (December 23, 1870 – October 2, 1953) was an early American modernist visual artist. He is known for his abstract landscape paintings and watercolors. Early life and education Marin was born on December 23, 1870, in Rutherford, N ...

and

Harold Weston Harold Weston (February 14, 1894 ''–'' April 10, 1972) was an American modernism, modernist painter, based for many years in the Adirondack Mountains, whose work moved from expressionism to Realism (visual arts), realism to abstract art, abstr ...

. Between 1930 and 1939 Lane lived in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England, and

, France. From 1939 to 1946 Lane was living in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. In 1946 Lane moved to the United States, teaching at

Miss Porter's School Miss Porter's School (MPS) is a private college preparatory school for girls founded in 1843 in Farmington, Connecticut. The school draws students from many of the 50 U.S. states, as well as from abroad. International students comprised 14% i ...

from 1952 until 1965. During this time Lane began making works in

woodblock printing Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of textile printing, printing on textiles and later on paper. Each page ...

silkscreen Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen in a "flood stroke" ...

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

s, and

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

. After 1960 Lane lived in

Brewster, Massachusetts Brewster is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population of Brewster was 10,318 at the 2020 census. Initially settled in 1659, the Town of Brewster ...

, visiting Greece, Mexico, the Soviet Union, and Australia. Lane died in

, in 1996. In 1977, Lane became an associate of the

Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP) is an American nonprofit publishing organization that was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1972. The organization works to increase media democracy and strengthen independent media. Basic informati ...

(WIFP). WIFP is an American nonprofit publishing organization. The organization works to increase communication between women and connect the public with forms of women-based media.

Gallery

File:Betty-lane-the-sunflower-1937.jpg , The Sunflower, 1937 File:Betty-lane-snow-hill-boston-1940s.jpg , Snow Hill, Boston, 1940s File:Betty-lane-you-cant-trust-kruschev-1964.jpg , You Can't Trust Kruschev, 1964 File:Betty-lane-retired-liberation-mps-1966.jpg , Retired Liberation, 1966 File:Betty-lane-theory-on-tv-1973.jpg , Theory On TV, 1973 File:Betty-lane-june-morning-1980s.jpg , June Morning, 1980s

Exhibitions

* 1931

Phillips Memorial Gallery. “April Exhibitions at the Phillips Memorial Gallery. John Marin, Harold Weston, Betty Lane.” * 1931

Phillips Memorial Gallery. "Watercolors by Betty Lane 1931 (The Washington Room)." * 1932

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Delphic Studios Delphic may refer to: *Delphic (band), British band *Delphic Club, a final club at Harvard College * Uses as adjective: ** Of or connected with the city of Delphi, Greece ** Making of predictions: *** Delphic ambiguity *** Of or related to the Delp ...

. * 1941

Galerie St. Etienne
* 1944

Whyte Gallery. * 1944

Galerie St. Etienne
* 1945

. Ontario Society of Artists. * 1948

. 44th Street Gallery. * 1948

Barnstable, Massachusetts Barnstable ( ) is a List of municipalities in Massachusetts, town in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the county seat of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County. Barnstable is the largest community, both in land area and population ...

. Cape Cod Art Association. * 1958

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. Carl Bredemeier Gallery. * 1997 Dennis, MA.

. "Betty Lane: Painting a Life." * 1999

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Provi ...

Julie Heller Gallery
* 2006

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

. Sullivan Goss. "Betty Lane: The Road Less Taken." * 2008

. Sullivan Goss.

References

External links

Biography, Sullivan Goss Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Betty American artists 1907 births American modern artists 1996 deaths