Category Archives: Birthdays

Born May 15~ Althea McNish

Posted in 365 Women Artists, Artists Born Today Include:, Women Artists by

Althea McNish FSCD (May 15, 1924-April 16, 2020) was a textile designer who rose to prominence in London with her bright, tropical textiles inspired by the colors and landscape of her native Trinidad.
Biography on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Althea_McNish

Painted Desert by Althea McNish / 1959 / Woven cotton satin screen
Various collections, including National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh

Althea McNish on Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum:
https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/althea-mcnish/zTbcYQWqoKl7Lpv1

Further reading:
https://www.selvedge.org/blogs/selvedge/althea-mcnish-remembered
https://www.libertylondon.com/us/features/design-and-living/archive-althea-mcnish.html
https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/althea-mcnish-an-introduction

Born May 14~ Betty Woodman

Posted in 365 Women Artists, Artists Born Today Include:, Women Artists by

Betty Woodman (May 14, 1930-January 2, 2018) was an American ceramic artist whose pieces ranged from massive site-specific murals to fragmentary columns and carpet-like floor pieces.
Biography on Woodman Family Foundation: https://www.woodmanfoundation.org/betty/biography

(Detail) Alessandro’s Rooms by Betty Woodman
2011 / Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, laquer, acrylic paint, canvas

102-1/2″x354-1/2″x15-3/4″ / Photos from Salon 94, New York, NY

Betty Woodman on Artnet: http://www.artnet.com/artists/betty-woodman/

Further reading:
https://hyperallergic.com/419859/betty-woodman-obituary/
https://www.wallpaper.com/art/betty-woodman-david-kordansky-gallery-los-angeles
http://artistproject.metmuseum.org/5/betty-woodman/

Born May 13~ Ruth Thorne-Thomsen

Posted in 365 Women Artists, Artists Born Today Include:, Women Artists by

Ruth Thorne-Thomsen (born May 13, 1943) is an American photographer best known for her constructed landscape photographs made with a cigar-box pinhole camera.
Biography on International Center of Photography:
https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/ruth-thorne-thomsen?all/all/all/all/0

Thunderhead by Ruth Thorne-Thomsen
1986 / Gelatin silver print / Image: 4-1/2″x3-3/4″ / Various collections, including Art Institute of Chicago, IL

Ruth Thorne-Thomsen on Artnet: http://www.artnet.com/artists/ruth-thorne-thomsen/

Further reading:
https://www.mocp.org/detail.php?type=related&kv=7780&t=people
https://rockfordartmuseum.org/photography/395-untitled
From 1993~https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-04-02-9304030005-story.html

How to Make a Pinhole Camera: https://thebrooklynrefinery.com/how-to-make-a-pinhole-camera/

Born May 12~ Lily Renée

Posted in 365 Women Artists, Artists Born Today Include:, Women Artists by

Lily Renée Phillips (born May 12, 1921) is an Austrian-born American artist best known as one of the earliest women in the comic-book industry, beginning in the 1940s.
Biography on Grand Comics Database: https://www.comics.org/creator/18712/

Senorita Rio story drawn by Lily Renée / 1945 / 10 pages / Issue #38 / Fight Comics

Newsweek article from 2015: https://www.newsweek.com/real-life-comic-book-superhero-74267

Further reading:
https://thestilettogumshoe.com/2020/06/14/lily-renee-fighting-the-axis-with-a-sable-brush/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/overlooked-jewish-female-artist-from-comics-golden-age-escaped-real-wwii-peril/
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.austrianposters.at/2019/10/05/lily-renee-bil-spira-und-paul-peter-porges/&prev=search&pto=aue
https://comicsgrinder.com/2021/05/09/review-lily-renee-escape-artist-from-holocaust-survivor-to-comic-book-pioneer-by-trina-robbins/

Born May 11~ Gladys Rockmore Davis

Posted in 365 Women Artists, Artists Born Today Include:, Women Artists by

An artist who succeeded in both commercial and fine arts, Gladys Rockmore Davis (May 11, 1901-February 16, 1967) gave up a career in advertising art to devote herself to creative painting.
Biography on Go Antiques: https://www.goantiques.com/gladys-rockmore-davis-541082

Seated Figure by Gladys Rockmore Davis
c.1937 / Oil on canvas / 30-1/16″x25″ / Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

Gladys Rockmore Davis on Artnet: http://www.artnet.com/artists/gladys-rockmore-davis/

Further reading:
https://www.dbdowd.com/illustration-history/2015/11/13/gladys-rockmore-davis
https://www.kilmerhouse.com/2015/07/gladys-rockmore-davis-the-artist-behind-the-classic-johnson-johnson-ads
LIFE magazine articles:
https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=Gladys+Rockmore+Davis&tbs=,bkt:m,bkms:1168684103302644245

Born May 10~ Lenore Tawney

Posted in 365 Women Artists, Artists Born Today Include:, Women Artists by

Lenore Tawney (May 10, 1907-September 24, 2007) was an American artist known for her sculptural weaving and assemblages.
Biography on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore_Tawney

Lenore Tawney with Drawing In Air XV (The Crossing)
1998 / Linen, wood / 96″x48″x24″ / Lenore G. Tawney Foundation

Lenore Tawney on Artnet: http://www.artnet.com/artists/lenore-tawney/

Further reading:
https://www.artic.edu/artists/36890/lenore-tawney
https://magazine.artland.com/lost-and-found-artist-series-lenore-tawney/
https://www.craftcouncil.org/magazine/article/lenore-tawney-spiritual-revolutionary

Born May 9~ Eliyakota Samualie

Posted in 365 Women Artists, Artists Born Today Include:, Women Artists by

Eliyakota Samualie (May 9, 1939-November 1987) was a Canadian Inuit graphic artist and sculptor.
Biography on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliyakota_Samualie

Bird and Fish by Eliyakota Samualie
c.1980-1981 / Ink and color pencil on paper / University of Delaware Museums Collections, Newark, DE

Eliyakota Samualie on Canadian Art price index: https://artpriceindex.ca/artist/1167240/Eliyakota-Samualie/

Further reading:
https://www.inuitartzone.com/collections/samuellie-eliyakota
https://www.historymuseum.ca/capedorsetprints/themes/animals.php
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/inuit-printmaking

Born May 8~ Matilda Browne

Posted in 365 Women Artists, Artists Born Today Include:, Women Artists by

Matilda Browne (May 8, 1869-November 3, 1947) was an American Impressionist artist noted for her flower paintings and her farm and cattle scenes.
Biography on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_Browne

Sunny Window by Matilda Browne
ND / Oil on canvas / 14″x11″ / Private collection

Matilda Browne on Artnet: http://www.artnet.com/artists/matilda-van-wyck-browne/

Further reading:
https://florencegriswoldmuseum.org/collections/online/fox-chase/
https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/matilda-browne-a-forgotten-female-impressionist/
https://florencegriswoldmuseum.org/exhibition-notes-matilda-brownes-historic-lyme-street-house-part-i-after-the-revolution/

Born May 7~ Suzy Frelinghuysen

Posted in 365 Women Artists, Artists Born Today Include:, Women Artists by

Suzy Frelinghuysen (May 7, 1911-March 19, 1988) was an American abstract painter, and also an opera singer under the name Suzy Morris.
Biography on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzy_Frelinghuysen

Composition: The Ring by Suzy Frelinghuysen
1943 / Oil and collage on masonite / 23-3/4″x19-7/8″ / Private collection

Frelinghuysen on Artnet: http://www.artnet.com/artists/suzy-frelinghuysen/

Further reading:
https://www.sullivangoss.com/artists/suzy-frelinghuysen-1911-1988
https://www.frelinghuysen.org/bios/suzy.html
https://lenoxhistory.org/lenoxhistorypeopleandplaces/modernism-shocks-berkshires-1930s/

Born May 6~ Gladys Nilsson

Posted in 365 Women Artists, Artists Born Today Include:, Women Artists by

Gladys Nilsson (born May 6, 1940) is a contemporary American artist known for watercolors and collages.
Biography on National Gallery of Art:
https://www.nga.gov/features/exhibitions/outliers-and-american-vanguard-artist-biographies/gladys-nilsson.html

Pink Suit #2 by Gladys Nilsson
1966 / Watercolor, over graphite on paper / 16-1/10″x10-1/10″ / Art Institute of Chicago, IL

Gladys Nilsson on Artnet: http://www.artnet.com/artists/gladys-nilsson/

Further reading:
https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/gladys-nilsson-retrospective-honk-matthew-marks-garth-greenan-hairy-who
https://www.frieze.com/article/gladys-nilsson-older-i-get-bigger-i-want-these-women-be
https://interactive.wttw.com/art-design-chicago/hairy-who