Constance Jenkins Macky (née Constance Lillian Jenkins; 1883–1961) was an Australian-born American artist and teacher. She was known for her portraits, landscape paintings, and still life paintings.

Biography

Constance Lillian Jenkins was born June 29, 1883, in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia. Her parents were Emma Wright and John S. Jenkins, her father was of Scottish descent. She was the youngest of six children, and began to study art seriously at age 15. Macky attended the

National Gallery of Victoria Art School The National Gallery of Victoria Art School, associated with the National Gallery of Victoria, was a private fine arts college founded in 1867 and was Australia's leading art school of 50 years. It is also referred to as the 'National Gallery S ...

(formally National Gallery School of Painting), from 1900 to 1908 and then studied at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

in Paris during 1909. In 1912, Jenkins married

Eric Spencer Macky Eric Spencer Macky, also known simply as Spencer Macky (1880–1958) was a New Zealand-born American painter, intaglio printmaker, academic administrator, and educator. He was president of the California College of Arts and Crafts (now the Calif ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. They had two sons, including Donald Spencer Macky (1913–2007) who was also an artist. In 1915, the Macky's both participated in the

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...

, creating decorative panels for the Australian and New Zealand Buildings. Constance Jenkins Macky and her spouse founded the Spencer Macky Art School in San Francisco in 1916. The first location of the school was at Post Street, near Gough Street in a building that housed many other notable artists including

Leo Lentelli Leo Lentelli (20 October 1879 – 31 December 1961) was an Italian sculptor who immigrated to the United States. During his 52 years in the United States he created works throughout the country, notably in New York and San Francisco. He also taugh ...

Clark Hobart Clark Hobart (1868-1948) was an American painter. His work is in the permanent collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Leg ...

, William Claussen, Louise Mahoney, Florence Lundberg, Sigmund Beel, and George Hyde. The school was popular and moved to a larger space at the "Artists Building" at 535 Sacramento Street in San Francisco. By 1917, the Spencer Macky Art School was merged with the California School of Fine Arts (CSFA; now known as the San Francisco Art Institute). After the merge she continued to teach classes at CSFA. She was a member of the

San Francisco Art Association The San Francisco Art Association (SFAA) was an organization that promoted California artists, held art exhibitions, published a periodical, and established the first art school west of Chicago. The SFAA – which, by 1961, completed a long sequen ...

, and the California Society of Women Artists.

Death and legacy

Macky died on November 17, 1961, in San Francisco. She is buried in the Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito,

. Macky's work is included in public collections including the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

, the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

, and others.

References

External links

Reminiscences of Eric Spencer and Constance Macky: oral history transcript / Eric S. Macky; tape recorded interview conducted in 1954. Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, California, 1957: and related material, 1954-1957.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macky, Constance Jenkins 1883 births 1961 deaths 20th-century American women artists 20th-century Australian women artists Artists from Melbourne San Francisco Art Institute faculty Académie Julian alumni Artists from San Francisco Australian people of Scottish descent Australian emigrants to the United States National Gallery of Victoria Art School alumni