National Museum of Women in the Arts
Washington, DC
202-783-5000
http://www.nmwa.org
Grace Albee: An American Printmaker, 1890-1985
In detailed representations of both great urban centers and rustic
scenes of rural life, Grace Albee faithfully recorded the places she knew
and loved during a career that spanned more than half of this century. The
National Museum of Women in the Arts presents a retrospective exhibition
of her wood engravings, Grace Albee: An American Printmaker, 1890-1985,
on view through November 21, 1999. (left: Fountain-Jardin du Luxembourg,
Paris, 1929, wood engraving, 5 1/8 x 7 1/4 inches, Georgetown University
Library, The Cohn Collection)
A native of Rhode Island, Albee and her family joined other
expatriate Americans living in Paris between the World Wars. There she befriended
fellow artists who contributed to her creative development, among them painter
Norman Rockwell and engraver Paul Bornet. Albee rendered city scenes and
picturesque views from her travels throughout France; her concentration
on buildings in Brittany foreshadowed her later interest in rural architecture.
She
returned to this country and worked during the 1930s in New York City, where
the architecture of the changing city inspired her. In Contrast-Rockefeller
Center (1934), Albee juxtaposed a Gothic church in the foreground with
the dramatically lit skyscrapers beyond. In 1937, Albee and her family relocated
to a farm near Doylestown, PA. There she included more intimate portrayals
of her surroundings, such as the stone houses and farms of her neighbors.
The Boyer Place (1946) shows her ability to capture the detail of
the farm scape, from the slatted corn crib in the center to the great stone
barn that looms over the scene. (left: African Violet, 1938,
Ed. 100, wood engraving, 4 3/4 x 6 1/8 inches, The National Museum of Women
in the Arts, Gift of P. Frederick Albee)
The delicate textures of Albee's country grasses and wildflowers
reveal her command of wood engraving. Coarse stones, aged wood, and rippled
water appear almost touchable. In one of her earliest rural pieces, Housing
Problem (1937), Albee's careful observation and composition evoke a
humorous depiction of nomadic goats. It won first prize in the Fifteenth
Annual Exhibition of American Prints at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in
1937.
Albee studied painting and drawing at the Rhode Island
School of Design before marrying muralist Percy 
F. Albee in 1913. She resumed her artwork in the mid-1920s
while she raised five sons. In 1946 she was elected a member of the National
Academy of Design in New York City. In 1976 the Brooklyn Museum hosted a
retrospective exhibition, displaying 80 of her works. Albee is represented
in museum collections throughout the United States, with major holdings
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Library of Congress,
the Smithsonian Institution, and the Boston Public Library. (right:
Manhatten Backwash, 1938, wood engraving 6 5/8 x 8 1/2 inches, The
National Museum of Women in the Arts)
Grace Albee: An American Printmaker, 1890-1985 was organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts with
guest curator Dr. Eric Denker, curator of prints at the Corcoran Gallery
of Art. The exhibition was made possible through the generous support of
Mr. and Mrs. P. Frederick 
Albee, Jr.; Ms. Nancy W. Mattis; Ms. Jean E. Davis;
Legg Mason; Mr. Eugene P. Stichman; General Federation of Women's Clubs
of Rhode Island; Mr. Chester A. Files, Jr.; Rhode Island State Committee/NMWA;
Mr. Vincent and Mrs. Betsy Albee; Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Albee; Bethesda
Art Gallery; Mr. and Mrs. I. Daniel Crowley; and many other sponsors. Additional
assistance was provided by Dr. Arthur and Mrs. Catherine Bert, Mr. and Mrs.
Robert H. I. Goddard, and Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Mechnig. (right: In
the Wild, wood engraving, 10 x 4 inches, The National Museum of Women
in the Arts)
Read more about the National Museum
of Women in the Arts in Resource
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For further biographical information on selected artists
cited in this article please see America's
Distinguished Artists, a national registry of historic artists.
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reserved.
In detailed representations of both great urban centers and rustic
scenes of rural life, Grace Albee faithfully recorded the places she knew
and loved during a career that spanned more than half of this century. The
National Museum of Women in the Arts presents a retrospective exhibition
of her wood engravings, Grace Albee: An American Printmaker, 1890-1985,
on view through November 21, 1999. (left: Fountain-Jardin du Luxembourg,
Paris, 1929, wood engraving, 5 1/8 x 7 1/4 inches, Georgetown University
Library, The Cohn Collection)
