Wikipedia

Catherine D. Wentworth

Matilde Catherine Denkmann Wentworth (1865 – March 3, 1948) was an American artist known for her portraits of women and a benefactor of New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Catherine D. Wentworth
Catherine Wentworth studio , 1910
Born
Matilde Catherine Denkmann

1865
Rock Island, Illinois, US
Died(1948-03-03)March 3, 1948
Other namesMrs. Edward S. Wentworth
EducationWellesley College

Early life

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Wentworth, born as Matilde Catherine Denkman and known as Catherine, was born in 1865 in Rock Island, Illinois, the daughter of the lumberman Frederick C. A. Denkmann and his wife (Anna) Catherine Bloedel Denkmann.[1] She was one of the seven children in the family.[2][3] Her first art lessons were at St. Katherine’s School in Davenport, Iowa.[4] She graduated from Wellesley College in 1886[5] and had her early training at the Art Institute of Chicago.[4] She then went abroad and studied both in Paris at the Julian Academy[4] and in Munich under Carl Marr.[6] Later, one of her masters was William-Adolph Bouguereau.[7]

In 1898 she married Edward Spencer Wentworth,[8] an opera singer.[9] In 1910 they moved to Paris where they would live for many years.[10]

Career

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Wentworth was known for her portraits of both men and women, portraits that featured prominent personages of the time, including women,[11][12] opera stars, composers such as Alexandre Georges,[13] other artistic people, and friends or acquaintances.[14] Wentworth had portraits exhibited in the Paris Salon,[15] news that reached the United States in 1914[16] and again in 1921.[17] She also exhibited her portraits in the United States.[18] In 1925,[19][20] she exhibited paintings and small bronze statues at the Galerie Jean Charpenter.[21] News on exhibits of her portraits was covered in Paris and the United States.[22][23]

 
Photograph shows Wentworth's studio. The image was taken in the period between 1910 and 1915, and is part of the George Grantham Bain collection.

Wentworth's portraits around in the permanent collections of museums, including museums in Clermont-Ferrand and Toulouse.[24] Her portrait of Letitia (Mrs. Wentworth Sr.) is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[25] Her portrait of Mrs. McLaughlin was purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1940.[26][24] Her painting of the French singer Léon Melchissédec[27] was first shown at a gallery in Paris and has since been exhibited at the Museum at Clermont-Ferrand.[28]

She moved back to the United States and in 1935, she purchased an estate in Montecito, California,[29][30] and there she became involved in the Santa Barbara annual flower show sharing tropical fruits grown on her property.[31][32] In 1940 Wentworth's portraits were exhibited at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.[33][34]

Wentworth died in 1948.[35][36] She bequeathed a portion of her estate to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art,[37][38] which included a donation to construct a room on a lower level to permanently display her collections of French fabrics, lace, ceramics, 18th century French silver[39] and pictures.[40] The collection was described in 1949.[41] The Pasadena Art Institute has a room called the Catherine D. Wentworth room which holds 16th century linen fold paneling.[42][43]

Awards and honors

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Wentworth was the first woman to win the Julian Academy's prize for figure drawing.[10] Wentworth was a member of the French Academy of Arts and Science.[44]

References

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  1. ^ "Life Story of Library Donor". The Rock Island Argus. Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections. 20 January 1910. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  2. ^ "The Denkmann will probated". Quad-City Times. 1905-03-20. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  3. ^ Mohr, Lisa (1995-02-12). "Sorting out the Weyerhaeusers and the Denkmanns". The Rock Island Argus. p. 59. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  4. ^ a b c "Former Tri-City Girl Wins International Fame as a Portrait Artist". Quad-City Times. 1925-08-02. p. 15. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  5. ^ "Wellesley College Digital Repository". Wellesley college.
  6. ^ Annual Exhibition of Paintings by Prominent Artists. H. Ricker & sons. 1902.
  7. ^ "AN AMERICAN IN PARIS". Estates Auction. July 29–30, 2023. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  8. ^ "Marriage of Denkmann / Wentworth". Quad-City Times. 1898-09-02. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  9. ^ Coulter, Melissa (2007-05-20). "Rock Island holds clues to artist's life". Quad-City Times. p. 95. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  10. ^ a b "The Woman of the Day". The Paris Times. 1925-02-01. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  11. ^ Sill, Louise Morgan (1927). "Paris Notes". The American Magazine of Art. 18 (7): 397–398. ISSN 2151-254X. JSTOR 23930766.
  12. ^ "Two paintings by Americans at the Paris Salon". The New York Times. 1913-04-13. p. 19. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  13. ^ "Composer as subject of artist's brush". Musical America. Vol. 46, no. 13. Musical America Publications. 1927-07-16.
  14. ^ Art Digest. Art Digest, Incorporated. 1926.
  15. ^ "To spend winter in Boston". Boston Evening Transcript. 1914-12-07. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  16. ^ "Pictures exhibited at the Paris Salon". The Sun. (New York [N.Y.]). 1914-04-19. p. 9. ISSN 1940-7831. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  17. ^ "American artists display talents in Paris Salon". Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.). 1921-06-23. p. 6. ISSN 2378-850X. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  18. ^ "Boston Artists Work Shown". Boston Daily Globe. July 13, 1916. Retrieved April 16, 2024 – via NewspaperARCHIVE.com.
  19. ^ "The Paris Times". Gallica. 1926-09-19. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  20. ^ "The Paris Times". Gallica. February 1925. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  21. ^ "Art and Arists". The Paris Times. 1925-02-06. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  22. ^ "Article clipped from St. Louis Globe-Democrat". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 1922-05-28. p. 94. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  23. ^ "Most interesting picture in Paris salon this year work of former local girl". Quad-City Times. 1922-08-06. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  24. ^ a b "Metropolitan Museum purchases portrait by Catherine Wentworth". Santa Barbara News-Press. 1940-06-09. pp. [1], [2]. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  25. ^ "Catherine D. Wentworth | Letitia (Mrs. Wentworth, Sr.) | American". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  26. ^ "Museum buys pictures". The Los Angeles Times. 1940-06-23. p. 50. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  27. ^ Le Ménestrel (in French). 1925.
  28. ^ The Art News 1925-05-30: Vol 23 Iss 34. Brant Publications. 1925-05-30.
  29. ^ "Visitors from many lands find this city answer to their quest for ideal home place". Santa Barbara News-Press. 1939-03-13. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  30. ^ "Painter buys Knott Estate". The Morning Press. 1935-06-16. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  31. ^ "Tropical fruits to be displayed". Santa Barbara News-Press. 1941-10-19. p. 25. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  32. ^ "Fruit display taken south". Santa Barbara News-Press. 1941-10-29. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  33. ^ "Article clipped from The San Francisco Examiner". The San Francisco Examiner. 1940-03-17. p. 47. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  34. ^ Paulding, Litti (1940-02-25). "Works of Santa Barbara artists winning acclaim". Santa Barbara News-Press. p. 14. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  35. ^ "Catherine Wentworth – Illinois Women Artists". Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  36. ^ "Catherine D. Wentworth, noted artist, dies at 83". Santa Barbara News-Press. 1948-03-04. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  37. ^ "ART MUSEUM BENEFICIARY; Mrs. Catherine P. Wentworth Left Institution $4,412,322". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  38. ^ "Wentworth will details given". The Los Angeles Times. 1950-11-03. p. 35. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  39. ^ "DISPLAY OF SILVER AT MUSEUM TODAY; Metropolitan to Show French Collection Willed to It by Catherine D. Wentworth". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  40. ^ Turner, Jonathan (2007-05-20). "Discovering Denkmann". The Dispatch. pp. [3], [4]. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  41. ^ "The Wentworth Collection". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 7 (10): 266–271. 1949. doi:10.2307/3257383. ISSN 0026-1521. JSTOR 3257383.
  42. ^ Millier, Arthur (1949-05-22). "Southland Residential Architecture Shown". The Los Angeles Times. p. 96. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  43. ^ "Pasadena Art Institute ends active year". The Los Angeles Times. 1952-08-24. p. 96. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  44. ^ "Estate lists snuff boxes at $128,000". Los Angeles Times. Vol. 68. 1948-12-04.
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