Macena Barton Explained

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

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Macena Barton | Illinois Women Artist . Iwa.bradley.edu . 2015-10-17 . 2017-02-27.
  2. Web site: Macena Barton – M. Christine Schwartz Collection . Schwartzcollection.com . 1935-05-13 . 2017-02-27.
  3. Web site: Chicago Art History,Chicago Artists,Illinois Historical Art Project . Illinoisart.org . 2017-02-27.
  4. Web site: HJB . Hjbltd.com . 2017-02-27.
  5. Web site: Macena Barton – Artist, Fine Art Prices, Auction Records for Macena Barton . Askart.com . 2017-02-27.
  6. Web site: WPA Art Collection – Illinois State Museum . Museum.state.il.us . 2017-02-27.
  7. Web site: Collection – University Art Gallery – Western Illinois University . Wiu.edu . 2017-02-27.
  8. Web site: Macena Barton papers, 1839–1985, 1914–1985 | Archives of American Art . Aaa.si.edu . 2017-02-08 . 2017-02-27.
  9. Book: The annual exhibition record of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1888-1950. Falk. Peter H. Bien. Andrea Ansell. Art Institute of Chicago. 1990. Sound View Press. 9780932087119. Madison, CT. English. 1039382677.
  10. Web site: Catalog of paintings by Macena Barton. libmma.contentdm.oclc.org. en. 2019-03-09.

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