Celebrate women in art with this retrospective exhibition of the American artist
and illustrator Mary Lane McMillan. It spans over sixty years of work created during her prolific life. Born in Tuscumbia, Alabama
in 1883, Mary Lane filled the pages of her childhood sketchbooks with amusing characters and enchanting scenes. She eventually
entered the National Academy of Design in New York in 1902 and was awarded the Medal for Best Work during her first year. Her studies continued
on at the Art Institute of Chicago, under Walter Marshall Clute. Leaving Chicago for Fort Worth, Mary headed the Art Department at Texas Women’s
College (now Texas Wesleyan University) for six years. In 1910 she spent the summer in Italy to study under the noted American artist
and painting teacher William Merritt Chase. Chase encouraged his students to pursue fine art and discouraged them from commercial
illustration. Faced with the dilemma of choosing fine art or illustration, within two years of returning to America, Mary
chose to begin her career as a book and magazine illustrator in New York City. From 1913 to the 1930s,
Mary’s illustrations appeared in Life, McCall’s, Harper’s Bazaar, American Magazine, Designer, Woman’s
Home Companion and the Saturday Evening Post. She eventually gained such popularity by the 1920s that she was asked to
create full-color covers for Every Week Magazine, Judge, McCall’s, American Magazine and Pictorial Review. Mary accomplished this
at a time when American illustration was at its peak and illustrators were in demand and highly paid. As a woman entering into
the working world of men, she was living the dream of an emerging group of women in the early 20th century who wanted to
be free to pursue careers, become financially independent and find personal fulfillment. Mary displayed a masterful flair for
each medium she used- from painting serene landscapes in oil and watercolor to capturing the fleeting moments of childhood
in pastels and pencil. She continued to share her gift of teaching with countless students at the McMillan School of Fine
Arts in New York that she established with her husband, a piano teacher. After moving to Florida by the late 1940s, her creative
energy continued on into the latter years of her life, which she spent inspired by the rural landscapes and sparkling lakeshores
of the Sunshine State. She continued to sketch and paint into her eighties and died in 1976 at the
age of 93. An early 20th century
critic described Mary's art as being "transfused with atmosphere, splendid in composition and beautiful in color." Her
artistic spirit and contribution to American art and illustration continue to be admired today.
| Italian Villa, oil on board, 1910 |
|
|
| Woman with Rose, watercolor, c. 1915 |
|
|
| Florida Fish Camp, watercolor, 1947 |
|
|
