Mary Rogers Williams facts for kids
Mary Rogers Williams (born September 30, 1857 – died September 17, 1907) was an American artist. She was known for her beautiful paintings using pastels and oil paints. Her art style was a mix of tonalism and Impressionism.
Mary painted many portraits of people and landscapes. She loved painting scenes from her home in New England. She also painted places she visited during her travels across Europe. These travels took her from Norway all the way to ancient ruins in Italy. She often painted scenes with high horizons, like meadows or old towns on hills, under a wide sky.
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Biography
Mary Rogers Williams grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. She was one of six children. Her father, Edward Williams, was a successful baker. Mary and her three sisters were excellent students. None of them ever married.
Mary's first art teacher was James Wells Champney. She also studied at the Art Students League of New York in New York City. There, she learned from famous artists like William Merritt Chase. Later, she taught art at Smith College. She was the second-in-command of the art department from 1888 to 1906. She taught drawing, painting, and art history. She even wrote a list of all the plaster sculptures at the college.
Almost every summer, Mary traveled in Europe. She loved to sketch the scenery and local people. Sometimes, she would walk between towns to save money. She would go "catch a sketch" or "find a sketch," as she wrote to her sisters. Even though she was Episcopalian, she often went to Catholic church services in Europe. She wrote exciting descriptions of the clothes and music to her sisters. She even had her bicycle shipped from Hartford to Europe to help her travel!
Mary lived in Paris twice, from 1898–99 and again from 1906–07. While in Paris, she studied at the famous École des Beaux-Arts. She also learned from the well-known artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler.
Artistic Achievements
Mary Rogers Williams was a member of the New York Woman's Art Club of New York. She showed her art in many places. These included the American Water Color Society and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She also showed her work at the famous Paris Salon in 1899.
After she passed away, special shows of her art were held in 1908 and 1909. These shows were in Philadelphia and Hartford. Important newspapers like The New York Times and the Hartford Courant praised her work.
In 1894, a writer named Elizabeth Williams Champney described Mary. She said Mary was "an artist with rare poetic instinct and feeling." She also said Mary had "a fine scorn for all shams." When asked about her art style, Mary famously replied: "If I cannot have a style of my own, I trust I may be spared an adopted one."
Death
Mary Williams passed away on September 17, 1907. She was in Florence, Italy, when she was diagnosed with abdominal tumors. She is buried in the Allori cemetery there. There is also a marker for her in Spring Grove Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut.
Most of her paintings are still kept together by her family and friends. You can find her artwork in places like the Smith College Museum of Art. The Connecticut Historical Society also has some of her paintings.
Papers
Mary Williams kept a diary. She also had many photos and thousands of letters. These are now part of a private collection. Some of her letters are also kept at the Smithsonian Institution and Yale University.
