Gretchen Osgood Warren; the wife of Fiske Warren

Fiske Warren

Frederick Fiske Warren was a hugely successful Paper Manufacturer, fine arts denizen and major supporter of Henry George's Single Tax system which he helped develop in Harvard, Massachusetts, United States in the 1930's. He was the son of Samuel Dennis Warren and Susan Cornelia Warren of Beacon...

 was an actress, singer and poet. The daughter of Dr. Hamilton Osgood and Margaret Cushing Osgood

Margaret Cushing Osgood

Margaret Cushing Pearmain Osgood , was an american writer and poet. She was the mother of Mary Alden Childers, Gretchen Osgood Warren and the grandmother of Erskine Hamilton Childers the fourth President of Ireland.-The City Without Walls:...

 of Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts, her younger sister was Mary Alden Childers wife of writer and Irish nationalist Robert Erskine Childers

Robert Erskine Childers

Robert Erskine Childers DSC , universally known as Erskine Childers, was the author of the influential novel Riddle of the Sands and an Irish nationalist who smuggled guns to Ireland in his sailing yacht Asgard. He was executed by the authorities of the nascent Irish Free State during the Irish...

.

Early life

She could sing perfectly in pitch, write like an adult and recite poetry on command. Her upbringing in the affluent environment; that was turn of the century Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts

Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts

Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, that along with the neighboring Back Bay is home to about 26,000 people. It is a neighborhood of Federal-style rowhouses and is known for its narrow, gas-lit streets and brick sidewalks...

; allowed her to pursue music and drama to an extremely high level.

Just down the street from the Osgood home was the Boston Athenaeum, where a long line of Osgoods, namely Frances Sargent Osgood

Frances Sargent Osgood

Frances Sargent Osgood was an American poet and one of the most popular women writers during her time...

 and Samuel Stillman Osgood

Samuel Stillman Osgood

Samuel Stillman Osgood was a 19th-century American portrait painter.-Biography:He was born in New Haven, Connecticut to James Osgood and Elizabeth Badger. He studied painting in Boston, Massachusetts. After his marriage to poet Frances Sargent Locke he continued his art education at the Royal...

, are all listed on the "Register of the Proprietors" for the institution. Gretchen went on to study at Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 and graduated with honors.

Artistic Muse

John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...

, the famed portraitist of Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

's elite, was commissioned by Warren's husband, Fiske Warren

Fiske Warren

Frederick Fiske Warren was a hugely successful Paper Manufacturer, fine arts denizen and major supporter of Henry George's Single Tax system which he helped develop in Harvard, Massachusetts, United States in the 1930's. He was the son of Samuel Dennis Warren and Susan Cornelia Warren of Beacon...

 to paint her portrait in April 1903. The sitting was done in Fenway Court, then the home of legendary Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 fine arts czar; Isabella Stewart Gardner

Isabella Stewart Gardner

Isabella Stewart Gardner – founder of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston – was an American art collector, philanthropist, and one of the foremost female patrons of the arts....

. Warren is seen seated in a chair with her daughter Rachel Warren. The painting is often considered to be one of Sargent's

John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...

 prime portraits and usually appears in Sargent Estate Calendars and Postcards,. Later she was also photographed by portrait photographer Arnold Genthe

Arnold Genthe

Arnold Genthe was a photographer, best known for his photos of San Francisco's Chinatown, the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and his portraits of noted persons, from politicians and socialites to literary figures and entertainment celebrities.-Biography:Genthe was born in Berlin, Prussia, to Louise...

Works

• Humanity, by Gretchen Osgood Warren, (Basil Blackwell, Oxford) 1953 (A Selection of Poems)

Sources

• The Mount Vernon Street Warrens, Martin Green, Simon & Schuster, 1989 ISBN 0684191091
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston