Lot 274: Adele Williams (VA, 1868-1952), Provincetown

oil on canvas, signed at lower left "Adele Williams," retaining an old paper label on the verso which reads "Street in Provincetown / Adele Williams / 1009 West Avenue," housed in the original hand-carved walnut frame with muted and toned gold leaf and paint decoration.SS 20.5 x 17.75 in.; DOA 28 x 24.75 in. The youngest of five children, Adele Williams' artistic talents were nurtured at an early age by both her parents and siblings. Following an ambitious schooling for females of the period, Williams began to focus on her painting. She completed her first commission at the age of 19; a portrait of the great late Richmond business leader, Bolling Walker Haxall. Portraiture proved to be lucrative and this was only the first of many portraits she completed, including a pair of portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson after his appointment as Princeton University President. Not only was Williams an accomplished portraitist, she was even more admired for her style of American Impressionism. She honed her skills under the finest painters and greatest academies of the day. After public schooling, Adele enrolled in the Woman's Art School at Cooper Union in New York City, attended classes at the Art Students League, studied under Rhoda Holmes Nichols, and then, like many aspiring artists, traveled to Paris where she studied at the Académie Julian. While in Paris, Williams embraced the camaraderie of artists and emulated the great Impressionist masters she had admired at the 1886 New York exhibit. Training at the Académie Julian proved to be a bit on the more formal, academic side with William Adolphe Bougeureau and Gabriel Ferrier as the two primary instructors. Nevertheless, Williams developed her own hand and, along with friends, hunkered down in the myriad of museums and traveled the Continental countryside painting as they went. Upon her return to the States in 1894, Adele Williams continued exhibiting her own works, as well as organizing exhibits of prominent American artists mounted by the Richmond Art Club. She played a prominent role in founding the art club and Richmond's art scene in the early twentieth century is much indebted to Williams and her tireless efforts to bring the fine work of artists like Edmund Tarbell, Childe Hassam, Ernest Lawson, Arthur B. Davies, and Elliott Daingerfield for public viewing. During her lifetime, Williams exhibited in all the great venues for artists including the American Water Color Society in New York, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, the New York Water Color Club (founded alongside Childe Hassam), the Boston Art Club, the National Academy of Design, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the American Water Color Society. Adele Williams made the trek up to the great art colony in Old Lyme, Connecticut where she was first introduced to Childe Hassam. It was in Old Lyme that Williams fully developed her Impressionist technique. All the artists, many of whom like Williams spent time at the Académie Julian, were encouraged to paint en plein air and the convivial atmosphere contributed to a burgeoning school of uniquely American fine art. Discontent to remain in one place too long, Williams traveled throughout her life, usually with a brush in her hand and an easel by her side. One place, however, remained foremost in her heart and served her well throughout her career: Richmond. Adele Williams Art Dame of Richmond Sources: Bayliss, Mary Lynn. "Exhibitions of Talents Adele Williams and the Richmond Art Scene." Virginia Cavalcade. 41.4 (1992) 166-176. Bayliss, Mary Lynn. "Exhibitions of Talents Adele Williams and the Richmond Art Scene." Virginia Cavalcade. 42.1 (1992). 36-46. Colt, Thomas C. Jr. Adele Williams. Virginia Arts Series No. 10. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. October 1-15, 1940. "The Historic Bolling Haxall House". 2006. The Woman's Club of Richmond, Virginia. 10 November 2006. "Sunlight & Shadow: American Impressionism, 1885-1945." 2000. Ella Sharpe Museum. 26 October 2006. Unknown Photographer. "Boating party of Old Lyme artists, circa 1903." Lyme Historic Society. Childe Hassam: American Impressionist. By Ulrich W. Hiesinger. Munich: Prestel, 1999. Figure 135.By family descent to the artist's niece.