Constance Forsyth

Forsyth was born on August 18, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana.{{Cite news |date=1946-01-20 |title=Constance Forsyth opens first one-man show at Laguna Gloria |pages=3 |work=The Austin American |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103659095/constance-forsyth-opens-first-one-man/ |access-date=2022-06-13}}{{Cite book |last=Kovinick |first=Phil |url=http://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000kovi |title=An encyclopedia of women artists of the American West |date=1998 |location=Austin |publisher= University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-79063-6 |pages=96–97}} She was the middle child born to her parents, the artist William Forsyth and Alice (Atkinson) Forsyth.{{Cite book |last=Newton |first=Judith Vale |url=http://archive.org/details/skirtingissuesto0000newt |title=Skirting the issue : stories of Indiana's historical women artists |date=2004 |location=Indianapolis |publisher= Indiana Historical Society Press |isbn=978-0-87195-177-9}}{{Rp|page=220}}

Forsyth attended Shortridge High School{{Cite web |date=2021-02-05 |title=Constance E. (Connie) Forsyth |url=https://staging.indyencyclopedia.org/constance-e-connie-forsyth/ |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=indyencyclopedia.org |language=en-US}} and then Butler University in Indianapolis, where she earned a B.A. in chemistry in 1925,{{Rp|page=222}} Forsyth began formal painting instruction at the John Herron Art Institute,{{Cite web |title=Constance Forsyth |url=https://artcloud.com/artist/constance-forsyth |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=artcloud |language=en-us}} where she studied with Helene Hibben.{{Cite news |date=1956-03-04 |title=Constance Forsyth's show now at salon |pages=103 |work=The Indianapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736560/constance-forsyths-show-now-at-salon/ |access-date=2022-06-14}} She subsequently studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she was introduced to grease crayons as a drawing material,{{Rp|page=223}} and the Broadmoor Art Academy where she studied under Boardman Robinson and John Ward Lockwood.{{Cite news |last=Morehouse |first=Lucille E. |date=1940-09-07 |title=Constance Forsyth to teach in Texas |pages=5 |work=The Indianapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736490/constance-forsyth-to-teach-in-texas/ |access-date=2022-06-14}}

Forsyth first worked as an instructor at the John Herron Art Institute,{{Rp|page=223}} Western College for Women, and the University of Texas at El Paso.{{Cite news |last=Dry |first=Margaret Taylor |date=1974-01-13 |title=Bold works complement delicate ones in show |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736261/bold-works-complement-delicate-ones-in-s/],[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736261/bold-works-complement-delicate-ones-in-s/] |work=Austin American-Statesman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736261/bold-works-complement-delicate-ones-in/ |access-date=2022-06-14}} While at the John Herron Art Institute, she organized her students' work in Indianapolis,{{Cite news |last=Morehouse |first=Lucille E. |date=1935-05-19 |title=Children's Art Exhibition in Herron Sculpture Court |pages=6 |work=The Indianapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103658960/childrens-art-exhibition-in-herron/ |access-date=2022-06-13}} though she and her father were part of a group of people who were fired and then allowed to return on a part-time basis.{{Cite book |last=Warkel |first=Harriet G. (Harriet Garcia) |url=http://archive.org/details/herronchronicle0000wark |title=The Herron chronicle |date=2003 |location=Bloomington |publisher=Herron School of Art, IUPUI, in association with Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-34237-9}}

In 1940, she moved to the University of Texas in Austin where she established a printmaking program,{{Cite journal |last=Symmes |first=Marilyn |date=2008 |title=Review of Paths to the Press, Print-Making and American Women Artists, 1910-1960 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20358149 |journal=Woman's Art Journal |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=52–55 |issn=0270-7993 |jstor=20358149}}{{Rp|page=225}} and was part of a cohort of artists joining the university at that time.{{Cite news |last=Douberley |first=Amanda |date=2007-08-24 |title=Making the scene |language=english |work=The Austin Chronicle |url=http://archive.org/details/The_Austin_Chronicle-2007-08-24}} With supplies limited because of World War II, she made projects work with limited supplies.{{Rp|page=|pages=225–226}}In 1973, Forsyth was promoted to professor emeritus.

Forsyth is known for her printmaking and her watercolors.{{Cite news |last=Akhtar |first=Suzanne |date=July 25, 1999 |title=Two women flourished as artists despite obstacles in the early 1900s - Newspapers.com |language=en |work=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736414/two-women-flourished-as-artists-despite/ |access-date=2022-06-14}} She is known for her semiabstract explorations of natural forms like as waves, mountains, and, particularly, clouds.{{Cite news |last=Morehouse |first=Lucille E. |date=1939-04-30 |title=Art |pages=19 |work=The Indianapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736353/art/ |access-date=2022-06-14}} Her subjects included outdoor scenes, such as Westcliffe, Colorado that was shown in the World's Fair in New York in 1939.

She helped Thomas Hart Benton with the Indiana murals for the Century of Progress exposition in Chicago in 1933. Forsyth also worked as an illustrator for two books: Charles Garrett Vannest's Lincoln the Hoosier: Abraham Lincoln's Life in Indiana (1928){{Cite book |last=Vannest |first=Charles Garrett |url=http://archive.org/details/lincolnhoosierab00vann |title=Lincoln the Hoosier : Abraham Lincoln's life in Indiana |date=1928 |publisher=St. Louis : Eden Publishing House |others=University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign}} and Esther Buffler's The Friends (1951).{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/sim_bulletin-of-the-center-for-childrens-books_1951-12_5_4 |title=Bulletin of the Children's Book Center 1951-12: Vol 5 Iss 4 |date=1951 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |language=English}} Forsyth's work is in the permanent collection at the Blanton Museum of Art,{{Cite web |title=Constance Forsyth |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/forsyth-constance |website=Blanton Museum of Art}} the McNay Art Museum,{{Cite web |title=Constance Forsyth (American, b.1903, d.1987) |url=https://collection.mcnayart.org/persons/1190/constance-forsyth-american-b1903-d1987 |access-date=2022-06-13 |website=McNay Art Museum |language=en}} the Indianapolis Museum of Art,{{Cite web |title=Indianapolis Museum of Art Collection: Constance Forsyth |url=http://collection.imamuseum.org/results.html?query=%22Constance+Forsyth%22&has_image=T&name=Forsyth,%20Constance |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=collection.imamuseum.org}} and the Dallas Museum of Art.{{Cite web |title=Evening Sky - Constance Forsyth |url=https://www.dma.org/object/artwork/3246303/ |access-date=2022-06-13 |website=Dallas Museum of Art |language=en}}

Constance Forsyth died on January 22, 1987.{{Cite web |title=TSHA {{!}} Forsyth, Constance |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/forsyth-constance |access-date=2022-04-09 |website=www.tshaonline.org}}{{Cite news |date=1987-01-25 |title=Obituary for Constance Forsyth (Aged 73) |pages=66 |work=The Indianapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103659187/obituary-for-constance-forsyth-aged-73/ |access-date=2022-06-13}}

Awards won by Forsyth include the Naomi Goldman prize and the Even Clendenin prize from the National Association of Women Artists. The Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery acknowledged her efforts with a combined retrospective with William L. Lester in 1974, one year after her retirement.{{Cite news |date=1974-01-20 |title=Retired artists in show |pages=29 |work=Corpus Christi Caller-Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103659427/retired-artists-in-show/ |access-date=2022-06-13}} On March 22, 1985 the Printmaker Emeritus Award was granted to her by the Southern Graphics Council in appreciation of her excellent achievements in the profession.

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Category:1903 births

Category:1987 deaths

Category:American printmakers

Category:Artists from Indianapolis

Category:American women artists

Category:Shortridge High School alumni

Category:Butler University alumni