Anne Ryan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Anne Ryan
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Anne Ryan, ca. 1949
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| Born | 1889 |
| Died | 1954 (aged 64–65) |
| Known for | Collage, printmaking |
| Movement | Abstract expressionism |
Anne Ryan (1889–1954) was an American artist known for her unique style called Abstract Expressionism. She was part of a group of artists known as the New York School.
In 1941, Anne Ryan joined a famous printmaking workshop called Atelier 17 in New York City. This workshop was started by a British artist named Stanley William Hayter. It was a place where many new and exciting artists gathered.
A big change in Ryan's art happened in 1948. She was 57 years old when she saw collages by an artist named Kurt Schwitters. Collages are artworks made by gluing different materials like paper or fabric onto a surface. Ryan loved them right away and started making her own. She was also a poet, and some people say her collages were like visual poems. Before she passed away six years later, she had made over 400 collages!
Biography
Anne Ryan was born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1889. She lost both her parents when she was a teenager. She went to a convent school called the Academy of Saint Elizabeth. Later, she married a lawyer named William McFadden, but they separated in 1923.
During this time, she spent a lot of time with artists and writers in New York City's Greenwich Village. She even published a novel called Raquel and a book of poems called Lost Hills. In the early 1930s, she lived in Majorca and Paris.
When she came back to the United States, she settled in New York City. The art scene there was very exciting. She started painting in 1938 and had her first art show in 1941. After seeing Kurt Schwitters' collages in 1948, she was amazed by how powerful and detailed small collages could be. She started making collages that very evening, using scraps of paper and fabric. She continued making collages until she died in 1954 in Morristown, New Jersey. She is buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
Anne Ryan's image was included in a famous 1972 poster called Some Living American Women Artists by Mary Beth Edelson.
Artistic and Literary Work
For Anne Ryan, writing and art were closely connected. She wrote poems about painting and was friends with many artists and writers. She first made prints with Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17. Then she started oil painting. By the mid-1940s, she was even designing costumes and backgrounds for ballet shows.
But it was in collage that Ryan truly found her unique artistic voice. She used all sorts of materials in her collages, like silk, netting, handmade rag paper, and Japanese rice paper. Most of her collages were small, usually about eight by six inches. She often put small squares of different materials next to each other. This showed off the different textures and thicknesses of each piece.
Anne Ryan had three art shows at the Betty Parsons Gallery in the 1950s. This helped her become well-known in the art world. After she died in 1954, an exhibition of her collages was shown at the Brooklyn Museum and traveled to other museums. Her daughter, Elizabeth McFadden, is also an artist.
Selected Exhibitions
Anne Ryan's work was shown in many important art exhibitions during her lifetime and after her death.
- Solo Exhibitions: She had her first solo show in 1941. Her collages were shown at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York City in 1950, 1954, and 1970. Her art was also featured in memorial exhibitions and traveling shows across the United States.
- Group Exhibitions: Her work was part of group shows at major museums like the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. She also participated in the famous Ninth Street Show in 1951, which was important for Abstract Expressionist artists.
Public Collections
Anne Ryan's artworks are kept in many important museums and art galleries. This means her art is part of their permanent collections for people to see. Some of these include:
- Addison Gallery of American Art
- Brooklyn Museum of Art
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Museum of Modern Art, New York
- National Gallery of Art
- Whitney Museum of American Art
- Yale University Art Gallery
See also
- Art movement
- Action painting
