Peggy Bacon facts for kids

Peggy Bacon (born Margaret Frances Bacon) was an American artist. She was born on May 2, 1895, and lived until January 4, 1987. Peggy was famous for her funny and sharp drawings called caricatures. These drawings often made fun of people or situations in a clever way.

She learned art at the Art Students League of New York. There, she taught herself a special way of making prints called drypoint. Her first caricatures appeared in a student magazine. Soon, her artwork was seen in popular magazines like The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. Her art was also shown in big art galleries. Peggy Bacon won many awards for her creative work.

Peggy Bacon's Early Life and School

Peggy Bacon was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Her parents, Charles Roswell Bacon and Elizabeth Chase Bacon, were both artists. They met while studying art in New York. Her father painted landscapes, and her mother made tiny portraits called miniatures. Both parents loved to read and would read books aloud to Peggy every evening.

Peggy's family moved around a lot. They lived in Connecticut, New York, and even the Bahamas. When she was 9 to 11 years old, they lived in France. Peggy's mother did not believe in regular schools. So, Peggy had tutors for most of her childhood. She studied subjects she liked, such as Latin, Greek, and ancient history. Peggy said her childhood was "absolutely delightful" even though it was very sheltered.

When Peggy was fourteen, she went to Kent Place School. This was a boarding school in Summit, New Jersey. After a sad event, Peggy and her mother moved to New York City.

Peggy Bacon's Artistic Journey

Peggy was interested in art from a very young age. Her parents always encouraged her drawing. She started drawing when she was only a year and a half old! But she didn't get formal art training until after she finished Kent Place School. In 1913, she first studied at the School of Applied Design for Women. She didn't like it and called it "the prissiest, silliest place." She soon moved to another art school.

From 1915 to 1920, Peggy studied painting at the Art Students League of New York. She learned from famous artists like Kenneth Hayes Miller, John Sloan, and George Bellows. Peggy made many friends at the League who also loved art. She said these years were "very important" and "exhilarating" because she met other young people with the same interests.

Around 1917, Peggy became interested in making prints. She taught herself drypoint, a type of printmaking. Her first funny caricature prints were in a student magazine called Bad News in 1918. Drypoint was her main art style until 1927. She also used pastels a lot until 1945. Even though she trained as a painter, she became famous for her funny prints and drawings. Her art was shown in important galleries like the Weyhe Gallery.

In 1919, Peggy got engaged to another artist, Alexander Brook. They married on May 4, 1920. They lived in London for a year, where their daughter, Belinda, was born. Later, they had a son named Sandy. The family split their time between Greenwich Village and Woodstock, New York. These were both lively places for artists. Peggy and Alexander divorced in 1940.

Peggy Bacon was a very busy artist. In 1919, when she was 24, she wrote and drew pictures for her first book, The True Philosopher and Other Cat Tales. She went on to draw for over 60 books! She also wrote 19 of those books herself. One of her books, The Inward Eye, was a mystery story. It was even nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe award in 1952.

Her popular drawings appeared in magazines like The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. She had more than thirty solo art shows in galleries. In 1934, Peggy won the Guggenheim Fellowship. This award helped her create 35 funny portraits of people in the art world. This collection was called Off With Their Heads!.

She also received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1980, they gave her a gold medal for her amazing work in illustration and graphic art throughout her life. In 1975, the National Collection of Fine Arts (now the National Museum of American Art) had a big show about her art. It was called "Peggy Bacon: Personalities and Places."

Besides making art, Peggy Bacon also taught art. She taught at different schools and colleges during the 1930s and 1940s.

Later Life and Her Impact

In the 1970s, Peggy Bacon's eyesight started to get worse. She eventually moved to Cape Porpoise, Maine. She passed away in 1987 when she was 91 years old.

From June to November 2012, a special art show called "Six Degrees of Peggy Bacon" was held. This exhibit showed how Peggy was connected to many other famous artists. It used photos, letters, and drawings to show her friendships and artistic links.

See also

In Spanish: Peggy Bacon para niños