Kate Matthews
Encyclopedia
Kate Seston Matthews was a photographer who depicted tableaux vivants and scenes of everyday life in her community of Pewee Valley, Kentucky
, at the turn of the 20th century.
, on August 13, 1870. After a childhood illness weakened one of her eyes and left her very frail, Lucien G. and Charlotta Anne Clark Matthews arranged for their youngest daughter to be educated at home while her seven siblings attended school. Sometime between 1880 and 1895, the Matthews family moved to Oldham County, Kentucky
, where they eventually bought a fourteen-room Victorian house and roughly twelve acres on Ashwood Avenue in Pewee Valley. Kate lived in the family home known as Clovercroft until she died on July 5, 1956.
Despite numerous technological advancements in photography over the next several decades, Matthews used that big bellows-style camera with glass plate negatives, black hood, and tripod for the rest of her life. She experimented with cameras that captured snapshots via automatic shutters, but she considered her photography an art and preferred to control light exposure with a lens cap. She also controlled every step of the development process in her own darkroom. She hand-tinted some photographs and frequently gave friends and family signed prints or sent them postcards made from prints.
Matthews' devotion to photography was considered somewhat eccentric in the small, traditional community of Pewee Valley. She would load the large camera, tripod, and costumes into her pony cart along with relatives, neighbors, or visiting children she persuaded to serve as models. Then she would drive to preselected locations where they recreated scenes from fairy tales and story books. Kate's niece, Lillian Fletcher Brackett, described her aunt as an artist who was extremely focused and somewhat "dreamy" when her "genius was burning." When a writer from the Louisville Courier-Journal asked Kate about her technique, she said "I am very conscious of light. . . I watch it from day to day and when it is where I need it, I use it."
In an era when few women ventured into photography, Matthews won prizes at the Kentucky State Fair, in contests in Chicago, Columbus, and Pittsburgh, and in other regional and national competitions. She had photographs published in The American Annual of Photography seventeen times between 1896 and 1923. Her photos also ran in The Youth's Companion, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Ladies' Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Illustrated American, Forward, The Brown Book of Boston and Burr McIntosh Monthly. In 1895, Southern Magazine featured Matthews along with sculptor Enid Yandell
, in an article celebrating young women artists. Her photographs were occasionally used in advertising for products such Jersey Cream Toilet Soap and Wolf Pen Mill flour in Kentucky.
Kate Matthews' most recognized photographs are those illustrating The Little Colonel
series of books written by her friend and neighbor, Annie Fellows Johnston. The series, about a fictional character named Lloyd Sherman living in Lloydsboro Valley, is based at least in part on real people and places in Pewee Valley, Kentucky
. Matthews herself was portrayed as the character Miss Katharine Marks, and she photographed many of the other real-life characters acting as their counterparts. A number of these pictures were published in books and on postcards by L.C. Page & Company.
Matthews seldom ventured far from home, but she found strength and support through her connections with a larger world. She read the best journals and her work reveals knowledge of trends and artistic movements both in the United States and abroad. Unfortunately her papers and most of her prints and negatives were lost in a fire shortly after her death, but she is known to have corresponded with editors of a number of photography journals and to have sought guidance from recognized leaders in the field, including Alfred Stieglitz
and Edward Steichen
.
While many of her images may be classified as "tableaux vivants" inspired by literature and popular writings of the time, Kate also photographed real people, architecture, and landscape of Pewee Valley. Her work has been described as sentimental, charming, late Victorian, and an idealistic representation of "the gentle, romantic mood of life in the aristocratic, southern town of Pewee Valley, Kentucky." Critics, however, note that her subjects are seldom smiling and say she appeared to be more interested in costumes, props, and staging than the emotions or humanity of the people she depicted.
Matthews' photographs have been exhibited at the University of Louisville
(1956, 1988, and 2007-2008), the Hunt-Morgan House
(1956), the Whitney Museum of American Art
(1974-1975), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
(1975), the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
of Norwalk, Connecticut (1987), and Atlanta's High Museum of Art
(1996), among other places. Her works are also in permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art in London, the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House
in Rochester, and Princeton University
. The largest collection of Kate Matthews prints and negatives is housed in the Photographic Archives in Ekstrom Library's Special Collections at the University of Louisville
.
Pewee Valley, Kentucky
Pewee Valley is a city in Oldham County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,436 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Pewee Valley is located at ....
, at the turn of the 20th century.
Early life
Kate Seston Matthews was born in New Albany, IndianaNew Albany, Indiana
New Albany is a city in Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River opposite Louisville, Kentucky. In 1900, 20,628 people lived in New Albany; in 1910, 20,629; in 1920, 22,992; and in 1940, 25,414. The population was 36,372 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of...
, on August 13, 1870. After a childhood illness weakened one of her eyes and left her very frail, Lucien G. and Charlotta Anne Clark Matthews arranged for their youngest daughter to be educated at home while her seven siblings attended school. Sometime between 1880 and 1895, the Matthews family moved to Oldham County, Kentucky
Oldham County, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 46,178 people, 14,856 households, and 12,196 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 15,541 housing units at an average density of...
, where they eventually bought a fourteen-room Victorian house and roughly twelve acres on Ashwood Avenue in Pewee Valley. Kate lived in the family home known as Clovercroft until she died on July 5, 1956.
Photographs
Kate Matthews was introduced to photography by the husband of her oldest sister, Lillian, while she was spending a summer with the couple and their children in Vermont. Charles Barrows Fletcher, a camera enthusiast, noticed that the usually shy and quiet teenager was curious about all aspects of photography. He mentioned Kate's interest in a letter to her father and suggested that it would be nice if she had her own camera. On his next business trip to New York, Lucien Matthews bought his youngest daughter the finest professional camera he could find.Despite numerous technological advancements in photography over the next several decades, Matthews used that big bellows-style camera with glass plate negatives, black hood, and tripod for the rest of her life. She experimented with cameras that captured snapshots via automatic shutters, but she considered her photography an art and preferred to control light exposure with a lens cap. She also controlled every step of the development process in her own darkroom. She hand-tinted some photographs and frequently gave friends and family signed prints or sent them postcards made from prints.
Matthews' devotion to photography was considered somewhat eccentric in the small, traditional community of Pewee Valley. She would load the large camera, tripod, and costumes into her pony cart along with relatives, neighbors, or visiting children she persuaded to serve as models. Then she would drive to preselected locations where they recreated scenes from fairy tales and story books. Kate's niece, Lillian Fletcher Brackett, described her aunt as an artist who was extremely focused and somewhat "dreamy" when her "genius was burning." When a writer from the Louisville Courier-Journal asked Kate about her technique, she said "I am very conscious of light. . . I watch it from day to day and when it is where I need it, I use it."
In an era when few women ventured into photography, Matthews won prizes at the Kentucky State Fair, in contests in Chicago, Columbus, and Pittsburgh, and in other regional and national competitions. She had photographs published in The American Annual of Photography seventeen times between 1896 and 1923. Her photos also ran in The Youth's Companion, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Ladies' Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Illustrated American, Forward, The Brown Book of Boston and Burr McIntosh Monthly. In 1895, Southern Magazine featured Matthews along with sculptor Enid Yandell
Enid Yandell
Enid Yandell was an American sculptor who studied with Auguste Rodin and Frederick William MacMonnies. She was the daughter of Dr. Lunsford Pitts Yandell, Jr. and Louise Elliston Yandell of Louisville, Kentucky. Yandell was a prolific sculptor creating numerous portraits, garden pieces and small...
, in an article celebrating young women artists. Her photographs were occasionally used in advertising for products such Jersey Cream Toilet Soap and Wolf Pen Mill flour in Kentucky.
Kate Matthews' most recognized photographs are those illustrating The Little Colonel
The Little Colonel
The Little Colonel is a 1935 American comedy drama film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by William M. Conselman was adapted from a novel of the same name by Annie Fellows Johnston, and focuses on the reconciliation of an estranged father and daughter in the years following the American...
series of books written by her friend and neighbor, Annie Fellows Johnston. The series, about a fictional character named Lloyd Sherman living in Lloydsboro Valley, is based at least in part on real people and places in Pewee Valley, Kentucky
Pewee Valley, Kentucky
Pewee Valley is a city in Oldham County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,436 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Pewee Valley is located at ....
. Matthews herself was portrayed as the character Miss Katharine Marks, and she photographed many of the other real-life characters acting as their counterparts. A number of these pictures were published in books and on postcards by L.C. Page & Company.
Matthews seldom ventured far from home, but she found strength and support through her connections with a larger world. She read the best journals and her work reveals knowledge of trends and artistic movements both in the United States and abroad. Unfortunately her papers and most of her prints and negatives were lost in a fire shortly after her death, but she is known to have corresponded with editors of a number of photography journals and to have sought guidance from recognized leaders in the field, including Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form...
and Edward Steichen
Edward Steichen
Edward J. Steichen was an American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator. He was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz' groundbreaking magazine Camera Work during its run from 1903 to 1917. Steichen also contributed the logo design and a custom typeface...
.
While many of her images may be classified as "tableaux vivants" inspired by literature and popular writings of the time, Kate also photographed real people, architecture, and landscape of Pewee Valley. Her work has been described as sentimental, charming, late Victorian, and an idealistic representation of "the gentle, romantic mood of life in the aristocratic, southern town of Pewee Valley, Kentucky." Critics, however, note that her subjects are seldom smiling and say she appeared to be more interested in costumes, props, and staging than the emotions or humanity of the people she depicted.
Matthews' photographs have been exhibited at the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
(1956, 1988, and 2007-2008), the Hunt-Morgan House
Hunt-Morgan House
The Hunt-Morgan House, historically known as Hopemont, is a Federal style residence in Lexington, Kentucky built in 1814 by John Wesley Hunt, the first millionaire west of the Alleghenies. The house is included in the Gratz Park Historic District. The Alexander T...
(1956), the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
(1974-1975), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
(1975), the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion is a Second Empire style country house, now a museum, in Norwalk, Connecticut. It was featured in the movies The Stepford Wives and House of Dark Shadows....
of Norwalk, Connecticut (1987), and Atlanta's High Museum of Art
High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art , located in Atlanta, is the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States and one of the most-visited art museums in the world. Located on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district, the High is a division of the Woodruff Arts Center.-History:The Museum was...
(1996), among other places. Her works are also in permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art in London, the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House
George Eastman House
The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...
in Rochester, and Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. The largest collection of Kate Matthews prints and negatives is housed in the Photographic Archives in Ekstrom Library's Special Collections at the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
.
External links
- Kate Matthews Collection at the University of Louisville Libraries