Dorothy Stewart
Encyclopedia
Dorothy Newkirk Stewart was an American printer, printmaker and artist. She was boron April 8, 1891 in Philadelphia to Dr. William Shaw and Delia Allman Stewart. Her parents sent her and her sister Margretta
Margretta Dietrich
Margretta Dietrich was an American sufragette and activist.-Biography:Born Margretta Stewart Shaw on November 23 or 26, 1881 in Philadelphia to Dr. William Shaw and Delia Allman Stewart. Her parents sent her and her sister Dorothy Newkirk Stewart to private school in Philadelphia. Margretta...

 to private school in Philadelphia.

Art Training

Stewart started making art in 1925. Stewart studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, her focus being on pantomime, stage design, & fresco painting. It is known that her first visit to Europe (through documentation of by her passport history at the border crossing) was in 1921 went she went to Italy, Greece. Eventually Stewart made her way to France where she became a student of American School of Fine Arts.

Stewart became well known for her drawing, painting, block prints and linoleum prints. Dorothy signed her prints with the initials, D.N.S.

Printing Press

Dorothy Stewart and her sister Margretta Dietrich
Margretta Dietrich
Margretta Dietrich was an American sufragette and activist.-Biography:Born Margretta Stewart Shaw on November 23 or 26, 1881 in Philadelphia to Dr. William Shaw and Delia Allman Stewart. Her parents sent her and her sister Dorothy Newkirk Stewart to private school in Philadelphia. Margretta...

 settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...

  in the mid 1920's. She acquired a type and printing press from a defunct Spanish language newspaper in Espanola in 1948, and this is when Dorothy started producing vibrant multicolored illustrated books. Stewart was one of the first women to run a private printing press in the Southwest. (Smith, 94)

In 1936 she was considered one of the members of the WPA Artist Collective
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...

in New Mexico; she painted a mural for entrance of Albuquerque's Little Theatre depicting clash between Christians and Moors portrayed in New Mexican folk plays.

Of the two sisters Dorothy was the social glue, she built a studio east of El Zaguán that doubled as Galeria Mexico, where the artist hosted concerts, lectures, shadow puppets plays, and exhibitions representing her wide range of interest. (Smith, 96). El Zaguán still retains an artist residency program with exhibits at El Zaguán under the Historic Santa Fe Foundation.

Death

In the winter of 1955, with a grave medical condition, Stewart was accompanied by her dear friend Maria Chavott to Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...

, Mexico where Dorothy was quoted as saying, “If I have to be sick, I would rather be sick here where I hear the street sounds of Mexico.” As Dorothy's condition worsened, Chabot moved her to the American British Cowdry Hosptial in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

, where Stewart died of a brain hemorrhage on December 24, 1955.

Publications

Hornacinas, Niches and Corners of Mexico City,
publisher: Editorial Cultura Mexico City, Mexico 1933,

Book featuring the sculpture figures of saints on buildings and various architecture charcoal sketches of buildings.

Pamphlet Adobe Notes, Laughing Horse Press, 1930, Printed by Spud Johnson

Manual focused on traditional Southwest Building techniques, featuring Dorothy's linoleum block illustrations

Under Stewart's Company : Pictograph Press

1949, Hamlet Prince of Denmark

1950, San Cristobal Petroglyphs

1952, Handbook of Indian Dances

Featured paintings by Pueblo Indians, Hall of Ethnology in Association with Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe

1953, A Midsummer Night's Dream
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