Jae Turner

Mary E. Hutchinson’s 1933 portrait of Rosalie Lanza sold at auction last week.  This is one of several portraits of Rosalie painted by Hutchinson between 1932-1935.  The subject was the sister of Hutchinson’s partner, Joanna Lanza.  For the exhibition history and more about the artist, see my digital catalog Artworks of Mary E. Hutchinson at http://meh.omeka.net.

Needless to say, I would love to hear from the new owner of “Rosalie”!  Leave a comment and let’s connect.

I have just added several pen and ink drawings to my digital archiving site The Artworks of Mary E. Hutchinson at http://meh.omeka.net.

Hutchinson made these drawings between 1942 and 1945 depicting her topsy turvy daily life as she and Ruth Layton cared for the children of a close friend who appears to have been suffering from severe depression and may have been institutionalized.  To view all of these drawings posted so far, click here and then select “Browse Items” from the top menu.  Then click “Browse By Tag,” and finally select “pen & ink” from the tag cloud.

Tell me about your experience navigating my Hutchinson site by leaving a reply here.

I’ve just learned that Mary E. Hutchinson’s ca. 1934-35 painting “Cat” was recently sold at auction.  Hutchinson exhibited the painting at the Washington Square Sidewalk Show probably in 1934 and then again at the Argent Galleries in New York in 1935.  The Argent Galleries was associated with the National Association of Women Artists.

“Cat” is currently featured on my digital archiving site, Artworks of Mary E. Hutchinson at http://meh.omeka.net.

I have recently added this portrait of George Griffiths to the Artworks of Mary E. Hutchinson at http://meh.omeka.net.   It is one in a series of paintings made by Hutchinson in 1936-37 of Griffiths who she probably encountered at the Harlem Community Art Center where she worked for the Federal Art Project.  The title of this work is probably either “George” of “Shine Boy” or it seems likely that Hutchinson exhibited the painting twice under the two different titles.

I am currently researching and thinking through issues of mid-twentieth century cross racial representation and would love to hear from others working on this issue.

I have added additional student work to The Artworks of Mary E. Hutchinson at http:/meh.omeka.net.  Click “Browse Items” in the top menu, then select “Browse by Tag,” and choose “student work” to filter for Hutchinson’s work produced while a student at the National Academy of Design in New York.  Mary Elisabeth Hutchinson attended the National Academy from 1926 to 1931.

Let me know about your experiences navigating the Hutchinson site so that I can make it as accessible as possible in the future!

Mary Elisabeth Hutchinson attended the National Academy of Design in New York from 1926 to 1931 on a tuition scholarship.  Life Study classes which focused on the human figure – particularly the male nude – remained a significant focus in art academies at that time and provided something of a rite-of-passage.

This student Life Study drawing (ca. 1927-28) whose title is unknown (if Hutchinson ever gave it a title) and that I refer to as “life study male nude no. 3,” is currently featured on my companion “work in progress” digital archiving site The Artworks of Mary E. Hutchinson at http://meh.omeka.net.

It popped up on eBay in 2009 in a batch with five other similar student drawings.  The eBay seller noted that this drawing was unsigned.  The auction which listed an outrageous beginning bid expired with no takers.  But the batch popped up again about a year later through a different seller – this time with a reasonable beginning bid – but minus this drawing.  I’m happy to report that since I was about the only one interested in Hutchinson at the time, I managed to to get the batch without competition at the minimum bid.  The eBay collector/seller reported that he had given the missing drawing to a friend.

Here’s a sneak preview of the other five student drawings not yet archived on The Artworks of Mary E. Hutchinson:

Keep an eye out for these to be added to The Artworks of Mary E. Hutchinson soon.  You can click on “Browse Items” in the top menu, then select “Browse by Tag,” and choose “student work” to filter for Hutchinson’s work produced while a student at the National Academy.

Let me know about your experiences navigating the site so that I can make it as accessible as possible in the future!

Check out Mary E. Hutchinson’s painting “Sleep” (ca. 1940) currently featured on my digital archiving “work in progress” site at http://meh.omeka.net.

This is one of Hutchinson’s paintings also featured in my recent article published in Feminist Studies (summer 2012), “Mary E. Hutchinson, Intelligibility, and the Historical Limits of Agency.”