Macena Barton

Macena Alberta Barton (August 7, 1901 – 1986) was an American painter.

Barton was a native of Union City, Michigan.[1] She studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1921 to 1925 while supporting herself as a bank clerk and proofreader. Among her instructors there was Leon Kroll, who encouraged her to study the work of the Post-Impressionists;[2] other teachers included John W. Norton, Wellington Reynolds, and Allen Philbrick.[3] She quickly won notice for her strong, striking surrealist paintings, and would go on to participate in exhibitions around Chicago throughout her career.[2] In 1927 she received the August Peabody Award from the University of Chicago, and she won first prizes from the Chicago Galleries Association from 1945 to 1956. Barton was a Fellow of the International Institute of Arts and Letters, and belonged to both the Arts Club of Chicago and the Chicago Society of Artists during her career.[4]

Barton was a committed feminist who once challenged art critic Clarence Joseph Bulliet's assertion, in print, that no woman had ever painted a nude of the highest caliber,[5] and she has been claimed as the first American woman artist to paint a nude self-portrait.[2] She later became a lover of the married Bulliet, with whom she frequently appeared in public.[4] Her 1938 oil-on-canvas Loaves is owned by the Illinois State Museum.[6] Woman Sewing, an oil dating between 1935 and 1942, was commissioned by the Works Progress Administration and is currently in the collection of the art gallery at Western Illinois University.[7] A collection of her papers is in the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution.[8]

Exhibitions

  • 1926: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1927: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1928: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1929: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1930: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1931: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1931: M. Knoedler & Company, Inc. Chicago[10]
  • 1932: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1933: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1934: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1936: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1938: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1939: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1940: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1941: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1942: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1943: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1944: Art Institute of Chicago[9]
  • 1949: Art Institute of Chicago[9]

References

  1. ^ "Macena Barton | Illinois Women Artist". Iwa.bradley.edu. 2015-10-17. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  2. ^ a b c "Macena Barton – M. Christine Schwartz Collection". Schwartzcollection.com. 1935-05-13. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  3. ^ "Chicago Art History,Chicago Artists,Illinois Historical Art Project". Illinoisart.org. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  4. ^ a b "HJB". Hjbltd.com. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  5. ^ "Macena Barton – Artist, Fine Art Prices, Auction Records for Macena Barton". Askart.com. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  6. ^ "WPA Art Collection – Illinois State Museum". Museum.state.il.us. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  7. ^ "Collection – University Art Gallery – Western Illinois University". Wiu.edu. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  8. ^ "Macena Barton papers, 1839–1985, 1914–1985 | Archives of American Art". Aaa.si.edu. 2017-02-08. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Falk, Peter H; Bien, Andrea Ansell; Art Institute of Chicago (1990). The annual exhibition record of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1888-1950. Madison, CT: Sound View Press. ISBN 9780932087119. OCLC 1039382677.
  10. ^ "Catalog of paintings by Macena Barton". libmma.contentdm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2019-03-09.


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