Kate Freeman Clark
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Kate Freeman Clark (September 3, 1875 – March 3, 1957) was an American painter born in
Holly Springs, Mississippi Holly Springs is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Mississippi, Marshall County, Mississippi, United States, near the border with Tennessee to the north. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 6,96 ...
. Clark was the daughter of Edward Clark, an attorney in
Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat. The population was 21,573 at the 2020 census. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vicksburg ...
, and Cary Freeman Clark, whose great-uncle was Edward Cary Walthall. An only child, she was named for her grandmother, and was called "Little Kate" to distinguish her from "Mama Kate". Soon after her birth her father purchased a plantation which would later become the centerpiece of the town of Cary, named for his wife. Kate and her mother summered in Holly Springs, where the air was considered cleaner than along the
Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...
, and Edward would write his daughter long letters during these absences. Edward Clark died of pneumonia in 1885, soon after being named assistant to L. Q. C. Lamar, Edward Walthall's former law partner who had been named
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
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*Interior ministry ...
. At his death Kate and her mother moved to Freeman Place in Holly Springs, which had been the Walthall family residence. The family soon moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where Kate attended finishing school at the Gardiner School, from which she graduated in 1891. In 1893 the two went to 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, which fired in the young woman a passion for art. Upon returning to New York City, she enrolled in the
Art Students League 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 ...
in 1894; there she studied drawing with
John Henry Twachtman John Henry Twachtman (August 4, 1853 – August 8, 1902) was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes, though his painting style varied widely through his career. Art historians consider Twachtman's style of American Impre ...
and watercolor with Irving Ramsay Wiles. It was Wiles who introduced her to
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. ...
, who would teach her still-life and plein air painting and would serve as her mentor until his death in 1916. The tidy watercolor medium was often used by women at the era, but upon witnessing Chase paint in oil while outfitted in a white flannel suit, Clark took up his favored medium. Chase respected her work highly, choosing two of her paintings for his personal collection. Clark and her mother summered on eastern
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during the late 1890s; Cary also traveled to Washington, D.C. for the social season there in 1896, in which year Kate attended classes at the
Corcoran School of Art 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 ...
. She also attended the
New York School of Art The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...
and the Shinnecock School of Art; she would remain in New York for the winters while traveling to resort areas in
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and
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
in summers. Clark took to signing her works with "Freeman Clark" or "K. Freeman Clark" so that her gender was not immediately apparent. She began exhibiting, showing her work at 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 ...
in 1905. Further exhibitions followed, at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, the
Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...
in Washington, D.C., the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...
in Philadelphia, and at the National Academy and
Society of American Artists The Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative. The group began meeting in 1874 at the home of ...
in New York. She was the subject of a number of one-woman shows, and spoke to the
Macbeth Gallery The Macbeth Gallery was an art gallery in New York City that was the first to specialize in American art. Founded by William Macbeth in 1892, the gallery gained notoriety in 1908 when it put on an exhibition protesting the restrictive policies and ...
to discuss selling her paintings through them. Clark had returned to Mississippi sporadically over her career to attend to family obligations, but she spent the bulk of her artistic life in New York; only two paintings on Mississippi subjects are known to exist. However, in 1924, after over 20 years in New York Clark returned to Mississippi and her southern roots, leaving the art world behind forever. Her reasons are unknown, but it has been speculated that the death of her mentor Chase in 1916, followed by that of her grandmother in 1919 and her mother in 1922, was a blow from which she never recovered. Chase's death especially seems to have hit her hard; she was pained that she could not attend the auction of his studio effects in time to purchase some memento of him, most especially an old, black kettle which he had painted numerous times and which was sold for seven dollars to somebody else. Clark also appears to have foreseen the rise in modernism which followed the
Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was organized by thAssociation of American Painters and Sculptors It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of the many exhibition ...
. Her family is known to have been against her career, and warned her against operating, as her uncle Russell Freeman wrote her, "in spheres of life which belong to men". Her temperament has been described as "depressive", which may have contributed to her withdrawal from the art world. Clark never married; her one serious suitor, Hamilton Foley, was a
West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
cadet who went to the Philippines during the
Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
and was court-martialed for embezzlement in 1905. She rarely spoke of her artwork upon her return to Holly Springs. At her death, however, she bequeathed several hundred paintings and drawings, which had been held in storage in the Lincoln Warehouse in New York, to the town, along with her house and with money to build a museum to house the art. These works provided the backbone for the Kate Freeman Clark Museum in Holly Springs. The museum, which apart from a handful of pieces by Chase contains only her work, is located next to her former home, and with more than 1,000 of her paintings is believed to be the largest collection of paintings by a single artist anywhere in the world. She had envisioned library space and a room for the display of fashions in the museum as well, but these could not be included in the final design due to a lack of funds. Clark is buried at
Hillcrest Cemetery Hillcrest Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Holly Springs, Mississippi, United States. Established in 1837, it is known as the "Little Arlington of the South." It contains the graves of a U.S. Senator and five Confederate generals. Location Th ...
in Holly Springs.


Collections

Clark's paintings can be found in: *
Greenville County Museum of Art The Greenville County Museum of Art (GCMA) is an art museum located in Greenville, South Carolina. Its collections focus mainly on American art, and its holdings include works by Andrew Wyeth, Jasper Johns (raised in South Carolina), William Hen ...
,
Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...
*The Johnson Collection,
Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city had a population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 11th ...
* Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery,
Holly Springs, Mississippi Holly Springs is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Mississippi, Marshall County, Mississippi, United States, near the border with Tennessee to the north. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 6,96 ...
*
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is an art museum in Memphis, Tennessee. The Brooks Museum, which was founded in 1916, is the oldest and largest art museum in the state of Tennessee. The museum is a privately funded nonprofit institution located in ...
,
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
* Private collections


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Kate Freeman 1875 births 1957 deaths 19th-century American painters 19th-century American women painters People from Holly Springs, Mississippi 20th-century American painters Painters from Mississippi Art Students League of New York alumni American Impressionist painters 20th-century American women painters Students of William Merritt Chase Burials at Hillcrest Cemetery