Ella Sophonisba Hergesheimer
Encyclopedia
Ella Sophonisba Hergesheimer (1873 – June 24, 1943) was an American
illustrator
, painter
and printmaker known for her portrayals of Tennessee society women and their children. As a printmaker, she pioneered the white-line woodcut. Hergesheimer was the great-great granddaughter of Philadelphia artist Charles Willson Peale
, who named one of his daughters Sophonisba after the Italian artist, Sofonisba Anguissola
.
Hergesheimer was born in Allentown
, Pennsylvania
in 1873. She studied at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women
for two years, and then went on to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for four years. At the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, she studied with Cecilia Beaux
, Hugh Breckenridge and William Merritt Chase
. She was considered by Chase to be one of his finest students, and spent the summer of 1900 studying at Chase's Shinnecock Hills Summer School on Long Island. As a senior at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, she was judged the best pupil in her class and was awarded the Cresson Traveling Scholarship. This allowed her to study abroad in Europe for three years, where she trained at the Académie Colarossi
and exhibited at the Paris Salon.
As a result of having her work including in a 1905 traveling exhibition organized by the Nashville Art Association, she received a commission in 1907 to paint the portrait of Holland Nimmons McTyeire, the Methodist bishop who convinced Cornelius Vanderbilt
to endow Vanderbilt University
. To work on the commission, she relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where she remained the rest of her life - first occupying a studio on Church Street, and later one at Eighth Avenue and Broadway. She also conducted art classes in Bowling Green
, Kentucky
, where her circle of friends included fellow artists Frances Fowler
, Sarah Peyton
, and Wickliffe Covington
. She also maintained a lifelong friendship with landscape painter Orlando Gray Wales
, who was also raised in Allentown and also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Hergesheimer's most notable portraits are those of Speaker of the House
Joseph W. Byrns, Sr., which hangs in the United States Capitol
building, and of Commodore Matthew Fontaine Maury
, which hangs in Maury Hall at the United States Naval Academy
in Annapolis
, Maryland
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
, painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and printmaker known for her portrayals of Tennessee society women and their children. As a printmaker, she pioneered the white-line woodcut. Hergesheimer was the great-great granddaughter of Philadelphia artist Charles Willson Peale
Charles Willson Peale
Charles Willson Peale was an American painter, soldier and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolution, as well as establishing one of the first museums....
, who named one of his daughters Sophonisba after the Italian artist, Sofonisba Anguissola
Sofonisba Anguissola
Sofonisba Anguissola was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.-The Anguissola family:...
.
Hergesheimer was born in Allentown
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in 1873. She studied at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women
Moore College of Art and Design
Moore College of Art & Design educates students for careers in the visual arts. Moore is an independent college of art and design. Located in the heart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Moore is the first and only women's visual arts college in the nation, and one of only two in the world...
for two years, and then went on to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for four years. At the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, she studied with Cecilia Beaux
Cecilia Beaux
Cecilia Beaux was an American society portraitist, in the manner of John Singer Sargent. She was a near contemporary of better-known American artist Mary Cassatt and also received her training in Philadelphia and France...
, Hugh Breckenridge and William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase was an American painter known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons The New School for Design.- Early life and training :He was born in Williamsburg , Indiana, to the family...
. She was considered by Chase to be one of his finest students, and spent the summer of 1900 studying at Chase's Shinnecock Hills Summer School on Long Island. As a senior at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, she was judged the best pupil in her class and was awarded the Cresson Traveling Scholarship. This allowed her to study abroad in Europe for three years, where she trained at the Académie Colarossi
Académie Colarossi
The Académie Colarossi is an art school founded by the Italian sculptor Filippo Colarossi. First located on the Île de la Cité, it moved in the 1870s to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, France....
and exhibited at the Paris Salon.
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history...
to endow Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
. To work on the commission, she relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where she remained the rest of her life - first occupying a studio on Church Street, and later one at Eighth Avenue and Broadway. She also conducted art classes in Bowling Green
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, where her circle of friends included fellow artists Frances Fowler
Frances Fowler
Frances Fowler was an American painter, notable as a student of Ella Sophonisba Hergesheimer. The daughter of F.C. and Harriett Herrick, she studied at Vanderbilt University before marrying Edward Fowler, a Columbia, Tennessee judge in 1895. After his death in 1908, she returned to Bowling...
, Sarah Peyton
Sarah Peyton
Sarah Peyton was an American painter, notable as a student of Ella Sophonisba Hergesheimer. The daughter of Walter and Elvira Gaines, she studied at Randolph-Macon College in Virginia and the Art Students League of New York. In 1928, she married Herbert Peyton, and after three years the couple...
, and Wickliffe Covington
Wickliffe Covington
Wickliffe Covington was an American painter, notable as a student of Ella Sophonisba Hergesheimer. The daughter of Robert Wickliffe and Sarah Steele Cooper, she studied at Sayre Female Institute, the New England Conservatory of Music and the Art Students League of New York...
. She also maintained a lifelong friendship with landscape painter Orlando Gray Wales
Orlando Gray Wales
Orlando Gray Wales was an American landscape painter and Pennsylvania impressionist who lived and painted in Allentown, Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley region of the United States...
, who was also raised in Allentown and also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
Joseph W. Byrns, Sr., which hangs in the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
building, and of Commodore Matthew Fontaine Maury
Matthew Fontaine Maury
Matthew Fontaine Maury , United States Navy was an American astronomer, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and educator....
, which hangs in Maury Hall at the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
in Annapolis
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
.
Major exhibitions
- American Artists Professional League
- Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
- Corcoran Gallery of ArtCorcoran Gallery of ArtThe Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
- National Academy of DesignNational Academy of DesignThe National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
- New Orleans Art Association
- Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsPennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsThe Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
- Salons of America
- Sesquicentennial ExpositionSesquicentennial ExpositionThe Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition of 1926 was a world's fair hosted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the 50th anniversary of the 1876 Centennial Exposition-History:The honor of hosting...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1926) - Society of Independent ArtistsSociety of Independent ArtistsSociety of Independent Artists was an association of American artists founded in 1916 and based in New York.Based on the French Société des Artistes Indépendants, the goal of the society was to hold annual exhibitions by avant-garde artists. Exhibitions were to be open to anyone who wanted to...
Colleagues and affiliations
- American Artists Professional League
- American Federation of Arts
- National Arts ClubNational Arts ClubThe National Arts Club is a private club in Gramercy Park, New York City, New York, USA. It was founded in 1898 to "stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts". Since 1906 the organization has occupied the Samuel J...
- New Orleans Art Association
- Salons of America
- Society of Independent Artists
- Southern States Art League
- Washington, D.C. Watercolor Club
Major collections
- Heckscher Museum of ArtHeckscher Museum of ArtThe Heckscher Museum of Art is named after its benefactor, August Heckscher, who in 1920 donated 185 works of art to be housed in a new Beaux-Arts building located in Heckscher Park, in Huntington, New York...
, Huntington, New York - Morris Museum of ArtMorris Museum of ArtThe Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Georgia was established in 1985 as a non-profit foundation by William S. Morris III, in memory of his parents, as the first museum dedicated to the collection and exhibition of art and artists of the American South....
, Augusta, Georgia - Reading Public MuseumReading Public MuseumThe Reading Public Museum, in West Reading, Pennsylvania, has displays featuring science and civilizations, a planetarium and a arboretum. It also offers educational programs for families, adults and children, and a yearly cultural festival....
, Reading, Pennsylvania - Tennessee State MuseumTennessee State MuseumTennessee State Museum is a large museum in Nashville depicting the history of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Starting from pre-colonization and going all the way to the 20th century, the museum describes the American Civil War, the Frontier, and the Age of Jackson. The museum includes an area of...
, Nashville, Tennessee - United States CapitolUnited States CapitolThe United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
, Washington, D.C. - Vanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
, Nashville, Tennessee
Further reading
- Burton, Vincent. "Some Portraits by Ella S. Hergesheimer." International Studio 37 (March 1909): 32-33.
- Kelly, James C. "Ella Sophonisba Hergesheimer 1873-1943." Tennessee Historical Quarterly 44 (Summer 1985): 112-13.
- Knowles, Susan. "Ella Sophonisba Hergesheimer (1873-1943)." Distinctive Women of Nashville. Nashville: Tennessee Historical Society, 1985.