Susan Watkins

File:Mrs. Watkins crayon on paper 1900.jpg

Susan Watkins was born on June 5, 1875, in Lake County, California{{Cite journal|last=Szabo|first=Joyce M.|date=1999|title=Susan Watkins: Quiet Interiors and Complex Personalities|journal=Woman's Art Journal|volume=20|issue=2|pages=3–34|doi=10.2307/1358977|issn=0270-7993|jstor=1358977}} to the prominent and wealthy San Francisco family of Susan Ella Owens and James Thomas Watkins.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.triblive.com/news/chrysler-museum-of-art-unlocks-painters-essence/|title=Chrysler Museum of Art unlocks painter's essence {{!}} TribLIVE.com|website=archive.triblive.com|access-date=2019-03-05}} Her father was a California newspaper editor. Her grandfather, Commodore James T. Watkins, was a trans-Pacific ship captain.{{Cite web|url=https://www.richmond.com/entertainment/art/artwork-of-susan-watkins-carefully-preserved-at-chrysler-museum-in/article_25985da2-a3b4-52d4-bc13-09faf6bcadef.html|title=Artwork of Susan Watkins carefully preserved at Chrysler Museum in Norfolk|last=Times-Dispatch|first=ZACHARY REID {{!}} Richmond|website=Richmond Times-Dispatch|access-date=2019-03-05}} He was regarded as a hero for saving the passengers and crew of a ship caught in a storm en route from San Francisco to New York. John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem about this heroic act titled "The Three Bells". She had two siblings- a brother, James and a sister, Eleanor Watkins Reeves (the subject of her later work Lady in Yellow, and wife of Joseph Mason Reeves).

Watkins attended E. L. Murison School in California and later, Gibbons School in New York City.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/womanswhoswhoam00leongoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/womanswhoswhoam00leongoog/page/n723 730]|quote=susan watkins serpell.|title=Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915|last=Leonard|first=John William|date=1914|publisher=American Commonwealth Company}} At age 15 she moved to New York City, where her father began work as an editor for The New York Sun. While in New York from 1890 - 1896 she studied at the Art Students League of New York and was taught by William Merritt Chase. Chase once referred to her as "the best woman painter living".{{Cite web|url=https://www.artprice.com/artist/106378/susan-watkins/biography|title=Biography of Susan Watkins|website=artprice}}

After Watkins's father died in 1896, she and her mother moved to Paris and her mother encouraged her to pursue her interest in painting. She was likely drawn to France to continue her studies because the French government at the time supported artists in ways that the United States did not.{{Cite journal|date=December 1985|title=Between Continents and Centuries: Susan Watkins, An American Artist Rediscovered|journal=The Chrysler Museum at Seaboard Center|pages=1}} In Paris, Watkins studied under Raphaël Collin at the Académie Julian for ten years, and was recognized as one of his finest students. Collin instructed his students on drawing, anatomy, and studies of the nude model with the ultimate goal of understanding and accurately depicting the human form.{{Cite news|title=The Art of Susan Watkins, 1875-1913|last=Harrison|first=Jeff|date=2003|work=Jean Outland Chrysler Library}} The Chrysler Museum of Art has numerous sketches - referred to as académies - drawn by Watkins during her time at the Académie, which demonstrate her comprehension of Collin's teachings.

File:Susan Watkins 1901 Certificate of Honorable Mention from The Society of French Artists.jpg

• 1899 Honorary Mention, La Petite Hollandaise, Paris Salon
• 1901 Third-Class Gold Medal, The 1830 Girl, Paris Salon - the highest award given to American artists at the time
• 1901 Certificate of Honorable Mention from The Society of French Artists{{Cite web|url=https://chrysler.emuseum.com/objects/2846/certificate-of-honorable-mention-from-the-society-of-french;jsessionid=2E5036D19C62737494B8DC7FFFB53725|title=Certificate of Honorable Mention from The Society of French Artists|website=chrysler.emuseum.com|language=en|access-date=2019-03-07}}
• 1904 Silver Medal, Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis
• 1906 Exhibition at Alaska-Yukon Expo in Seattle
• 1910 Julia A. Shaw Memorial Prize for best painting or sculpture by an American woman, National Academy of Design, New York{{Cite web|url=https://eclecticlight.co/2017/10/21/brief-candles-susan-watkins-the-woman-in-white/|title=Brief Candles: Susan Watkins, the Woman in White|last=hoakley|date=2017-10-21|website=The Eclectic Light Company|access-date=2019-03-05}}
• 1910 Exhibition at Vickery, Atkins & Torrey
• 1912 Associate Member, National Academy of Design
• 1912 Prize at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh
• Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago
• Exhibition at the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D.C.
• McMillin Prize, Woman's Art Club, New York City
• Exhibition at Mark Hopkins Institute of Art in San Francisco, now the San Francisco Art Institute
• 1985 Exhibition at the Chrysler Museum of Art, "Between Continents and Centuries: Susan Watkins, An American Artist Rediscovered"{{Cite journal|date=December 1985|title=Unraveling the Threads of a Lost Career|journal=The Chrysler Museum Monthly Member's Bulletin|volume=15}}
• 2003 Exhibition at the Chrysler Museum of Art, "Gentle Modernist: The Art of Susan Watkins"

File:Susan Watkins feeding pigeons in San Marco (ca. 1891-1904).jpg (ca. 1891-1904).|alt=]]

The majority of Watkins's paintings are of landscapes, portraits, and interiors and primarily oil paintings on canvas or board. Her earlier works lean towards realism - with dark tones and clear details, while her later works are more colorful and Impressionist in style. Her early, dark-toned paintings are evocative of 17th century Dutch paintings. She was likely influenced by differing art styles while working in the United States and later, in Europe. In 1906, Watkins visited Italy with suitor, Goldsborough Serpell with destinations including Capri, an island near Naples. She painted a series of colorful Impressionist paintings featuring young local boys picking grapes on the island. Possibly her largest painting is "Marguerite" at approximately 79 x 37 inches (201 x 94 cm), painted in 1906.{{Cite web|url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/marguerite/NgEqg36u7pi4mQ|title=Marguerite - Susan Watkins Serpell|website=Google Arts & Culture|access-date=2019-03-05}} It is speculated that Marguerite was a maid that worked for Watkins while she lived in France. Along with numerous oil paintings, Watkins also created academic drawings and sketches. A Young Girl was the final portrait painted by Watkins - a portrait of Walter S. Martin's daughter.

File:Portrait of Susan Watkins by William Merritt Chase.jpg. Chase painted this large portrait after Watkins's death as a memorial to his former student and friend]]

File:Goldsborough Serpell.jpg

Watkins became ill while traveling in Europe, and returned to the United States in 1910. She married long-time suitor, Goldsborough Serpell II on January 16, 1912, in Norfolk, Virginia. Because Watkins was financially independent and encouraged by her mother not to marry, she was disinterested in marriage for many years. Despite her independent nature, she did not seem to be a supporter of women's suffrage. She is quoted saying "a woman who is really occupied with the real things of life is so busy accomplishing them that she hasn't any thought of such things".

Her husband, Goldsborough Serpell II was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania.{{Cite web|url=https://www.serpell.info/index.php|title=Serpell Family History|website=www.serpell.info|access-date=2019-03-12}} His father, Goldsborough McDowell Serpell I worked as a civil engineer for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Encyclopedia_of_Virginia_Biography_volume_4.djvu/362|title=Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/362 - Wikisource, the free online library|website=en.wikisource.org|access-date=2019-03-12}} Goldsborough Serpell I later founded the Tunis-Serpell Lumber Company and built the Norfolk & North Carolina Railroad to transport lumber.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f_gzAQAAMAAJ&q=tunis+serpell+lumber+company&pg=PA97|title=Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia|last=Appeals|first=Virginia Supreme Court of|date=1898|publisher=Department of Purchase and Supply|language=en}} He served in Company B of the First Maryland Cavalry in the Civil War. Goldsborough II was a Norfolk banker, member of the Norfolk Executive Committee Southern Commercial Congress, board chairman of Seaboard Citizens National Bank, and president of the United Owners Realty Corporation in Norfolk.{{Cite web|url=http://cdm15987.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15987coll9/id/2138|title=Goldsborough Serpell, Chairman of the Board of The Seaboard Citizens National Bank, 1938 - Norfolk, Virginia :: Sargeant Memorial Collection Photograph Collection, 1850s-2010s|website=cdm15987.contentdm.oclc.org|access-date=2019-03-12}} He graduated in 1895 from the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. He is mentioned as an usher in a 1902 volume of Town & Country (magazine).{{Cite journal|last=Serpell|first=Goldsborough|date=November 22, 1902|title=TOWN & COUNTRY LIFE|journal=Town and Country|volume=2950|pages=18|id={{ProQuest|126868902}}}} While married, the couple lived on Duke Street in Norfolk, Virginia. A 1910 census shows that her husband lived at 108 Duke Street, Norfolk, Virginia.

File:Serpell House Norfolk Virginia.jpg, at the corner of Hampton Boulevard and Westover Avenue. It was demolished after severe looting and replaced with a medical facility in the 1960s.]]

Susan Watkins Serpell died on June 18, 1913, in Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. She was 38 years old. Her body was transported back to Norfolk, Virginia to be buried. It is not clear what illness afflicted Watkins, but sources speculate it was likely cancer. After her death, her husband lived at the Serpell family home at 902 Westover Avenue.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/Virginia/Goldsborough-Serpell_mf1hx|title=Goldsborough Serpell in the 1940 Census {{!}} Ancestry|website=www.ancestry.com|language=en|access-date=2019-03-07}} The Serpell family home - called the Serpell House - was a three-story, 40 room residence built in 1907 on the corner of Hampton Boulevard and Westover Avenue.{{Cite news|url=https://chrysler.org/library/|title=Apartment Planned - Olden Home to Yield|work=Jean Outland Chrysler Library}} It was the first private residence in Norfolk to have an elevator. Serpell's father, Goldsborough McDowell Serpell I, hired butler William Hendricks, who served the household for over 70 years. Hendricks polished the family silver, served meals, maintained the lavish flower garden, decorated the house for the holidays, and chauffeured the family until his death.

Her husband died in 1946 at age 70, and left 62 of her paintings to the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences - what is now the Chrysler Museum of Art.{{Cite web|url=http://artdaily.com/news/2068/-quot-Gentle-Modernist--The-Art-of-Susan-Watkins-quot-#.XH4dYohKjIV|title=Gentle Modernist: The Art of Susan Watkins|website=artdaily.com|access-date=2019-03-05}} Watkins pieces that are not displayed or stored at the Chrysler Museum are in private collections.{{Cite web|url=http://www.askart.com/auction_records/Susan_Serpell_Watkins/2291/Susan_Serpell_Watkins.aspx|title=Susan Watkins - Auction results - Artist auction records|website=www.askart.com|access-date=2019-03-05}} It is hypothesized that she would have become famous similar to the likes of Mary Cassatt, Cecilia Beaux, and Georgia O'Keeffe if not for her untimely death at the age of 38. She is seen as a pioneer in the fine art field in the 19th and 20th centuries, when women were not typically welcomed or awarded high praise in the community. She was Episcopalian. Watkins and Serpell are buried next to each other in Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk, plot EXT 16-L8.

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File:Susan Watkins (1875-1913), The 1830 Girl (1900).jpg|The 1830 Girl, 1900

File:Susan Watkins (1875-1913), Lady in Yellow (1902).jpg|Lady in Yellow, 1902 - A portrait of Watkins's sister, Eleanor Reeves

File:Marguerite (ca. 1906) by Susan Watkins.jpg|Marguerite, ca. 1906

File:Susan Watkins (1875-1913), Woman in a French Interior (1908).jpg|Woman in a French Interior, 1908

File:French Interior.jpg|French Interior, 1908

File:Susan Watkins Portrait of Goldsborough Serpell Oil on Board ca 1906.jpg|Portrait of Goldsborough Serpell, ca. 1906

File:Susan Watkins (1875-1913), Study for Boys picking grapes at Capri (ca. 1906), 1.jpg|Study for Boys picking grapes at Capri, ca. 1906

File:Susan Watkins (1875-1913), Boys picking grapes at Capri (ca. 1906).jpg|Boys picking grapes at Capri, ca.1906

File:Susan Watkins - View of the Seine and Notre Dame from the Quai de la Tournelle (1908).jpg|View of the Seine and Notre Dame from the Quai de la Tournelle, 1908

File:Susan Watkins View of the Jardin du Luxembourg oil on board ca 1908.jpg|View of the Jardin du Luxembourg, ca. 1908

File:Mrs. Watkins crayon on paper 1900.jpg|Mrs. Watkins, 1900

File:Susan Watkins Pencil Sketch of a skull.jpg|Pencil sketch of a skull, ca. 1897-1908

File:Susan Watkins Study of Male Nude 1897 conte crayon.jpg|Study of Male Nude, 1897 in Conté crayon

File:Susan Watkins Study of Female Nude, in Profile with Prop conte crayon ca 1897.jpg|Study of Female Nude, in Profile with Prop, Conté crayon, ca. 1897

File:Susan Watkins Pencil Sketchbook Entry Church 1899.jpg|Sketch of a Church, 1899

File:Susan Watkins Self Portrait oil on board.jpg|Portrait of a Lady. Oil paint self-portrait on board

File:Susan Watkins Self Portrait.jpg|Self Portrait, 1909

File:Susan Watkins Pencil Sketchbook Entry 1899.jpg|Sketchbook entry, pencil on paper, ca. 1899

File:Portrait of Susan Watkins Albumen print ca 1900.jpg|Portrait of Susan Watkins, Albumen print, ca. 1900. Photographer unknown.

File:Photograph of Susan Watkins ca. 1910.jpg|Photograph of Susan Watkins ca. 1910 from the Jean Outland Chrysler Library

File:Photograph of Susan Watkins ca.1860-1913.jpg|Photograph of Susan Watkins ca.1860-1913 from the Jean Outland Chrysler Library

File:Photograph of Susan Watkins in Europe ca. 1896-1908.jpg|Photograph of Susan Watkins at the Arch of Titus in Rome, ca. 1896-1908 from the Jean Outland Chrysler Library

File:Eleanor Reeves - sister of Susan Watkins.jpg|Photograph of Eleanor Reeves, sister of Susan Watkins and subject of Lady in Yellow

File:Susan Watkins front right 1891-1900.jpg|Photograph of Susan Watkins and unidentified friends or relatives. Watkins is front right, seated on a ladder. ca. 1891-1900

File:1916 Norfolk Executive Committee Southern Commercial Congress including Goldsborough Serpell, husband of Susan Watkins.jpg|1916 Norfolk Executive Committee Southern Commercial Congress including Watkins's husband, Goldsborough Serpell and former Norfolk mayor Barton MyersJean Outland Chrysler Library

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Category:1875 births

Category:1913 deaths

Category:Painters from San Francisco

Category:19th-century American painters

Category:19th-century American women painters