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Jessie Arms Botke
(1883-1971) "The Ranch",
oil on panel, 9" x 11 1/2", SLR
Olive Rush (1873-1966) • "Hopi Snake Dance" • oil
on board, 25" x 30", SLR
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The
Louise and Alan Sellars Collection of
American Women Artists
1850-1940
We are
pleased to announce that this
monumental collection has been sold intact
and will be preserved, honored and expanded
by a major museum in the United States.
An entire wing is being built that
will become
the permanent home for the collection which
will be debuted in the fall of 2009.
One has only to read through their biographies to
realize
that the majority of the women in this collection trained
and
taught at the finest academies in the U.S and Europe.
Throughout their careers they earned the highest
honors in the exhibitions of their day.
An
Honorable Endeavor
After
years of collecting early American art, it took a textile
executive, J. Alan Sellars and his wife and partner in life,
Louise Smith Sellars, to realize the gross neglect and lack
of recognition associated with women artists of the late
19th and early 20th centuries.
Thus
began their mission to reawaken the art world to the
achievements academically, professionally and socially of
these early American women artists, equal in all respects to
their male contemporaries. Of great importance to the
Sellars was the question of where and with whom the artists
studied as well as their exhibition records and the prizes
and awards they received. Most of these women trained and
taught at the finest academies in the U. S. and Europe.
Throughout their careers they earned the highest honors in
the exhibitions of their day, thereby confirming and
validating their place in American art history.
As
stated by Jean Woods, former director of the Washington
County Museum in Hagerstown, Maryland, "Stories of the
Sellars' quests to locate and learn more about women
painters are legendary. They were indefatigable in their
dedication to this project." Not only were the acquisition
and preservation of these works important to the Sellars,
their generosity and benevolence lead them to exhibit the
collection extensively in museums and embassies across the
United States and in Europe. They also donated specific
paintings to museums to fill gaps in various
collections.
Frances Hudson Storrs
(1860-1945)
"Dahlias", oil on board, 28" x 32 3/4", SLR, 1932
3
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