Mary Agnes Yerkes
Encyclopedia
Mary Agnes Yerkes, , was an American Impressionist painter
, photographer and artisan. She was skilled in the mediums of oil, pastel and watercolor. Her professional career was cut short by the Great Depression
, but she still continued to paint well into her nineties with a passion for her craft and nature. She is noted for her plein-air
painting while camping the American West
and its National Parks.
"Women artists have been inspired by the American West for more than 140 years, producing works of art as varied as the region itself and distinctive for their power and imagination."
.
Mary Agnes Yerkes was born on August, 9th, 1886 in Oak Park, IL. Her parents, Charles Sherman Yerkes and Mary Greenlees Yerkes, had moved to their N. Grove Ave. home a few years earlier from Ohio. She was the third child of four siblings; Reuben Archibald, Alice Agnew, and Charles Greenlees. Mary Agnes graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School
in 1906, and became an accomplished local artist.
Her father died in 1908. In 1913, her mother commissioned a house from architect John S. Van Bergen
. Van Bergen was a draftsman and then a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright
. Where most architects catered to wealthy clients, Van Bergen showed a particular interest in designing for both career women and artists. Their home was specifically designed by Van Bergen with an upstairs art studio for Mary Agnes. He even designed some of the first floor's interior trim in to frame some of Mary Agnes' mural paintings.
The ‘’Mary Greenlees Yerkes Residence’’ is an Oak Park Preservation Trust award recipient. The Art Institute of Chicago
and listings within Oak Park directories show her living at this 450 Iowa address from 1913-1919. Her mother continued living with Mary Agnes until her passing in California, in 1935.
Mary Agnes took a two year course in art history and decorative design at Rockford College
. She then studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, where she also taught, and at the currently named School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She had special painting instruction under Wellington Reynolds, John W. Norton
and Walter Marshall Clute, and participated in numerous exhibitions, including the exhibits of Chicago Artists, and the American Watercolor Society
at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1912-1915.
Mary Agnes had a solo two week showing in October, 1915, about which a Chicago critic wrote: “Miss Yerkes’ work shows remarkable versatility in both subject and medium, and she is unusually successful in doing many things well. The pictures are in oil and pastel and watercolor, and their subjects range from figures to landscape and still life, and from the daintiest spring to drifting winter snows. Thru all of her pictures, however, runs the same gift of clear, joyous, exquisite color. She will be very famous some day for her sense of color, and also for her rare gift of imagination.”
In 1917, she married Navy Commander Archibald Nelson Offley, (Archie), and had one child, Mary Yerkes Offley, born in 1918 and who died at the age of 15 from nephritis
. The early married life to a naval officer found her transferred to several ports. Portsmouth, VA
in the East and on the West Coast; San Diego, Vallejo
, Long Beach
and San Francisco, CA. among other locations. They eventually took up permanent residence in San Mateo, CA. in the 1930s. This time period saw the onset of the Great Depression and she realized that a formal career in painting would be difficult . “The Great Depression of the 1930s and the consequent lack of funds to patronize art severely affected the careers of many artists, both men and women”. A few artists during this time were lucky to find jobs through the Works Progress Administration's
Federal Art Project in painting murals in public buildings, but for many artists their careers were crushed. This situation was confirmed by Mary Agnes’ own journal, on one weekend’s journey to San Francisco from San Mateo in 1935. Mary Agnes had an appointment with the Art Director of Gump's
Department Store. She left very discouraged because the director said "nobody is buying art during these times". Their lifestyle was modest but far better than most during this period with Archie’s secure position at the Office of Censorship in the Navy. Any free time and saved money went for putting gas in the car, to roam the countryside for her artistic exploration.
.
With Northern California as a permanent base, Mary Agnes now painted for herself. She had ready access to some of the West’s greatest natural wonders. She traveled, camped and painted from Yosemite Valley
to Santa Fe
and from Tucson to Alberta, Canada. Travelogues, kept by her husband Archie, showed detailed records of these adventures all throughout the 1930s and 40s. They toured in their specially modified 1920s Buick which was equipped with extra storage pockets and a canvas sling for an interior bed. Mary Agnes, Archie and their daughter Mary, (nicknamed Min), spent weekends and holidays traveling on dirt roads to explore the inner sanctums of our newly established National Parks. Extended expeditions took them several times throughout the West and they toured many National Parks including; Crater Lake
, Mt Rainier
, Glacier, Yellowstone
, Grand Teton
, Rainbow Bridge
and Arches
, Mesa Verde
, Joshua Tree
, Death Valley
, Grand Canyon
, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
and Yosemite
, as well as the Oregon, Washington and California coasts. Yosemite Valley was a particular favorite subject matter and destination because of its beauty and proximity to San Mateo.
Mary Agnes mostly painted en plein-air but she also worked at home in a studio. Numerous photographs were taken by her on each trip to be used as reference later. Archie died in 1945 and Mary Agnes’ painting efforts took a pause. It resumed in the 1950s with encouragement from her second partner, Albert Cobb, although she did not remarry. Mary Agnes continued to camp and paint the American West well into the 1970s and into her nineties. She also hooked pictorial rugs, wove fabric for her own clothes and accessories, and carved furniture in the same Southwestern and natural motifs she loved to paint. She died in San Mateo, CA on November 8, 1989 at a grand old age of 103. After decades of painting, over [150] of her paintings adorned her own walls at the time of her death. The art world knows her as "Mary Agnes" Yerkes but she, as well as her family members, called herself "Agnes".
American Impressionism
Impressionism, a style of painting characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors, was practiced widely among American artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-An emerging artistic style from Paris:...
, photographer and artisan. She was skilled in the mediums of oil, pastel and watercolor. Her professional career was cut short by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, but she still continued to paint well into her nineties with a passion for her craft and nature. She is noted for her plein-air
En plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
painting while camping the American West
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
and its National Parks.
"Women artists have been inspired by the American West for more than 140 years, producing works of art as varied as the region itself and distinctive for their power and imagination."
Early Life in Chicago
"What a masterful painter she was, [Yerkes]. Her handling of paint, compositions, use of color and perspectives - are all assured." - Kent Smith, Director of Art, Illinois State MuseumIllinois State Museum
The Illinois State Museum is the official museum of the natural history of the U.S. state of Illinois. The headquarters museum is located on Spring and Edwards Streets, one block southwest of the Illinois State Capitol, in Springfield, the state capital...
.
Mary Agnes Yerkes was born on August, 9th, 1886 in Oak Park, IL. Her parents, Charles Sherman Yerkes and Mary Greenlees Yerkes, had moved to their N. Grove Ave. home a few years earlier from Ohio. She was the third child of four siblings; Reuben Archibald, Alice Agnew, and Charles Greenlees. Mary Agnes graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School
Oak Park and River Forest High School
Oak Park and River Forest High School, or OPRF, is a public four-year high school located in Oak Park, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the only school of Oak Park and River Forest District 200....
in 1906, and became an accomplished local artist.
Her father died in 1908. In 1913, her mother commissioned a house from architect John S. Van Bergen
John S. Van Bergen
John Shellette Van Bergen was an American architect born in Oak Park, Illinois. Van Bergen started his architectural career as an apprentice draftsman in 1907. In 1909 he went to work for Frank Lloyd Wright at his studio in Oak Park. At Wright's studio he did working drawings for and supervised...
. Van Bergen was a draftsman and then a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
. Where most architects catered to wealthy clients, Van Bergen showed a particular interest in designing for both career women and artists. Their home was specifically designed by Van Bergen with an upstairs art studio for Mary Agnes. He even designed some of the first floor's interior trim in to frame some of Mary Agnes' mural paintings.
The ‘’Mary Greenlees Yerkes Residence’’ is an Oak Park Preservation Trust award recipient. The Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The 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...
and listings within Oak Park directories show her living at this 450 Iowa address from 1913-1919. Her mother continued living with Mary Agnes until her passing in California, in 1935.
Mary Agnes took a two year course in art history and decorative design at Rockford College
Rockford College
Rockford College is a private American liberal arts college in Rockford, Illinois. It was founded in 1847 as Rockford Female Seminary and changed its name in 1892. The college is known as the alma mater of Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams, who was a member of the class of...
. She then studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, where she also taught, and at the currently named School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She had special painting instruction under Wellington Reynolds, John W. Norton
John W. Norton
John Warner Norton was an Illinois muralist and easel artist who pioneered the field in the United States.Among his works are the landmark 1929 long ceiling mural for the concourse ceiling of the Chicago Daily News Building , the Ceres mural in the Chicago Board of Trade Building ,...
and Walter Marshall Clute, and participated in numerous exhibitions, including the exhibits of Chicago Artists, and the American Watercolor Society
American Watercolor Society
The American Watercolor Society is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolor painting in the United States. It was founded in 1866 by eleven painters and, originally, was known as the American Society of Painters in Water Colors...
at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1912-1915.
Mary Agnes had a solo two week showing in October, 1915, about which a Chicago critic wrote: “Miss Yerkes’ work shows remarkable versatility in both subject and medium, and she is unusually successful in doing many things well. The pictures are in oil and pastel and watercolor, and their subjects range from figures to landscape and still life, and from the daintiest spring to drifting winter snows. Thru all of her pictures, however, runs the same gift of clear, joyous, exquisite color. She will be very famous some day for her sense of color, and also for her rare gift of imagination.”
California and the Depression
"It was..California, and more specifically San Francisco, that became the first mecca for women artists in the West".In 1917, she married Navy Commander Archibald Nelson Offley, (Archie), and had one child, Mary Yerkes Offley, born in 1918 and who died at the age of 15 from nephritis
Nephritis
Nephritis is inflammation of the nephrons in the kidneys. The word "nephritis" was imported from Latin, which took it from Greek: νεφρίτιδα. The word comes from the Greek νεφρός - nephro- meaning "of the kidney" and -itis meaning "inflammation"....
. The early married life to a naval officer found her transferred to several ports. Portsmouth, VA
Portsmouth, Virginia
Portsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...
in the East and on the West Coast; San Diego, Vallejo
Vallejo, California
Vallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...
, Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
and San Francisco, CA. among other locations. They eventually took up permanent residence in San Mateo, CA. in the 1930s. This time period saw the onset of the Great Depression and she realized that a formal career in painting would be difficult . “The Great Depression of the 1930s and the consequent lack of funds to patronize art severely affected the careers of many artists, both men and women”. A few artists during this time were lucky to find jobs through the Works Progress Administration's
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...
Federal Art Project in painting murals in public buildings, but for many artists their careers were crushed. This situation was confirmed by Mary Agnes’ own journal, on one weekend’s journey to San Francisco from San Mateo in 1935. Mary Agnes had an appointment with the Art Director of Gump's
Gump's
Gump’s is a luxury American home furnishings and home décor retailer. Gump’s was founded in 1861 in San Francisco, California.- History :S & G Gump was founded in 1861 as a mirror and frame shop by Solomon Gump and his brother, Gustav...
Department Store. She left very discouraged because the director said "nobody is buying art during these times". Their lifestyle was modest but far better than most during this period with Archie’s secure position at the Office of Censorship in the Navy. Any free time and saved money went for putting gas in the car, to roam the countryside for her artistic exploration.
Plein-air and the National Parks
"The two Yerkes oils in particular, [Crocker Art Museum], are wonderful examples of California Impressionism, and by a woman, which makes them even more rare." - Scott A. Shields, Ph.D., Associate Director/ Chief Curator, Crocker Art MuseumCrocker Art Museum
The Crocker Art Museum is one of the leading arts institutions in California, and the longest continuously operating art museum in the West. Located in Sacramento, California, the Crocker has been an art innovator since 1885...
.
With Northern California as a permanent base, Mary Agnes now painted for herself. She had ready access to some of the West’s greatest natural wonders. She traveled, camped and painted from Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...
to Santa Fe
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...
and from Tucson to Alberta, Canada. Travelogues, kept by her husband Archie, showed detailed records of these adventures all throughout the 1930s and 40s. They toured in their specially modified 1920s Buick which was equipped with extra storage pockets and a canvas sling for an interior bed. Mary Agnes, Archie and their daughter Mary, (nicknamed Min), spent weekends and holidays traveling on dirt roads to explore the inner sanctums of our newly established National Parks. Extended expeditions took them several times throughout the West and they toured many National Parks including; Crater Lake
Crater Lake National Park
Crater Lake National Park is a United States National Park located in southern Oregon. Established in 1902, Crater Lake National Park is the sixth oldest national park in the United States and the only one in the state of Oregon...
, Mt Rainier
Mount Rainier National Park
Mount Rainier National Park is a United States National Park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. It was one of the US's earliest National Parks, having been established on March 2, 1899 as the fifth national park in the United States. The park contains...
, Glacier, Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
, Grand Teton
Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park is a United States National Park located in northwestern Wyoming, U.S. The Park consists of approximately and includes the major peaks of the long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Only south of Yellowstone...
, Rainbow Bridge
Rainbow Bridge National Monument
Rainbow Bridge National Monument is administered by Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, southern Utah, USA. Rainbow Bridge is often described as the world's highest natural bridge. The span of Rainbow Bridge was reported in 1974 by the Bureau of Reclamation to be , but a laser measurement in...
and Arches
Arches National Park
Arches National Park is a U.S. National Park in eastern Utah. It is known for preserving over 2000 natural sandstone arches, including the world-famous Delicate Arch, in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations....
, Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world...
, Joshua Tree
Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California. Declared a U.S. National Park in 1994 when the U.S. Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act , it had previously been a U.S. National Monument since 1936. It is named for the Joshua tree forests native to the park...
, Death Valley
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park is a national park in the U.S. states of California and Nevada located east of the Sierra Nevada in the arid Great Basin of the United States. The park protects the northwest corner of the Mojave Desert and contains a diverse desert environment of salt-flats, sand dunes,...
, Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park is the United States' 15th oldest national park and is located in Arizona. Within the park lies the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, considered to be one of the Wonders of the World. The park covers of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties.Most...
, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is a U.S. National Monument and UNESCO biosphere reserve located in extreme southern Arizona which shares a border with the Mexican state of Sonora. The park is the only place in the United States where the Organ Pipe Cactus grows wild...
and Yosemite
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
, as well as the Oregon, Washington and California coasts. Yosemite Valley was a particular favorite subject matter and destination because of its beauty and proximity to San Mateo.
Mary Agnes mostly painted en plein-air but she also worked at home in a studio. Numerous photographs were taken by her on each trip to be used as reference later. Archie died in 1945 and Mary Agnes’ painting efforts took a pause. It resumed in the 1950s with encouragement from her second partner, Albert Cobb, although she did not remarry. Mary Agnes continued to camp and paint the American West well into the 1970s and into her nineties. She also hooked pictorial rugs, wove fabric for her own clothes and accessories, and carved furniture in the same Southwestern and natural motifs she loved to paint. She died in San Mateo, CA on November 8, 1989 at a grand old age of 103. After decades of painting, over [150] of her paintings adorned her own walls at the time of her death. The art world knows her as "Mary Agnes" Yerkes but she, as well as her family members, called herself "Agnes".
Signature Styles
"Although many rejected the Victorian role for women, few divorced themselves completely from its influence...And frequently they signed their works with monograms..."Museum Collections and Online Information
- Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA.
- Illinois State Museum
- Springville Museum of Art
- Yosemite Museum
- Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
- Whitney Gallery of Western Art
- Tucson Museum of Art
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- Smithsonian American Art Inventories - Mary Agnes Yerkes.
- Illinois Women Artists Project - Mary Agnes Yerkes.
- AskArt - Mary Agnes Yerkes.