Artist Esther Howland (1828–1904) was the first to publish and sell Valentine cards in the United States. Before Esther, many Valentine cards were hand made with paper, lace, and ribbons and handwritten poetry. By the end of the 19th century, most Valentines were mass-produced by machine, many based off Esther’s designs.

Esther was inspired by an English Valentine she received from a friend of her father’s when she was 19. By this time, mass-produced Valentines of paper lace were already popular in the U.K., with almost half the population spending money on cards, flowers, chocolates, and other gifts for their Valentines.

Esther loved her Valentine so much, she began importing the paper lace and other materials she needed from England to make her own cards. She made … Read More »

Though the art world of the 18th century was dominated by men, quite a few women were trained as artists and held their own in exhibits and sales. One of these women was Rose-Adélaïde Ducreux, whose portrait of herself tuning her harp is a gorgeous and historically fascinating work of art.

Rose was born in Paris in 1761, the daughter of the painter Joseph Ducreux (whose own self-portrait is now part of an internet meme…), a successful portraitist at the court of Louis XVI of France. Coming from a wealthy family, Rose received a well-rounded education, and was accomplished as a composer and performer as well as a portraitist.

Rose’s paintings were displayed in several exhibits, beginning in the Paris Salon of 1791, the … Read More »

Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938) was a successful, self-trained artist of Montmartre in Paris. She began her career modelling for such artists as Toulouse-Lautrec and Renoir, and was close friends with Degas and the composer Erik Satie (who proposed to her immediately — but she turned him down). Watching how the artists painted her, she taught herself how to paint and rose from the background of a poor, uneducated street child to become one of the most notable artists of the period.

The daughter of an unmarried laundress, Suzanne grew up working a variety of jobs to support herself and her family: waitress, nanny, funeral wreath maker, vegetable seller, etc. She even performed in the circus for a year until a fall from a trapeze at age 16 … Read More »

Edmonia Lewis was the first African American artist to earn international fame for her artwork. She earned a living as a sculptor and portraitist and was famous for several of her works, including a bust of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw of which she sold over 100 plaster copies.

Born Mary Edmonia Lewis in 1844 in New York State, Edmonia was actually African American and Native American. Her mother was of Mississauga Ojibwe and African descent, while her father was Haitian of African descent.

Edmonia acheived fame and earned a living from her art in a time of virulent prejudice against minorities and women. She challenged racist preconceptions with her marble sculptures of abolitionist heroes such as Colonel Shaw, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Horace Greeley.

Outspoken and bold, … Read More »

Alice Austen (March 17, 1866 – June 9, 1952) was a self-taught photographer born on Staten Island. She used her mother’s surname, Austen, because her father had left her mother before Alice was born.

Alice started her interest in photography when her uncle gave her a camera when she was 10 years old. After she began in her hobby, her camera equipment rarely left her side (though at times it weighed over 50lbs/~23kg altogether!)

Over her lifetime, Alice took thousands of photographs of all kinds of subjects. Her photographs are especially valuable as a window into daily life of the time.

Alice held onto her glass plate negatives, just thinking of her photography as a hobby. However, during the stock market crash of 1929, Alice and her family lost all their income, and … Read More »