 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (March 2023) |
Maud Briggs Knowlton | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 17, 1870 |
| Died | July 15, 1956 (aged 86) |
| Known for | Watercolor painting |
| Movement | Miniatures, watercolors |
Maud Briggs Knowlton (March 17, 1870 – July 15, 1956) was an American watercolorist, still-life painter, art instructor, craftsperson, printmaker, and museum administrator. She and her friend Alice Swett were the first two women artists in the Monhegan Island artists' colony.[1] She was the first director of the Currier Museum of Art.
Knowlton was a pupil of Rhoda Holmes Nicholls in New York, and she studied in Holland and Paris. She was a member of the Copley Society in 1900, Boston S.A. Crafts (now the Society of Arts and Crafts), and the New Hampshire League of Arts and Crafts. As an artist, her specialty was flowers and landscapes.
She was director of the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire, from 1929 to 1946.[2] At the time of its opening, the museum (then called the "Currier Art Gallery") had neither a collection large enough to fill the galleries nor an acquisition policy to guide the development of the collections. Knowlton wisely arranged a series of notable loan exhibitions from private and commercial sources until she and trustees determined how best to proceed. She is noted for saying, "One good canvas is worth a whole gallery of undistinguished paintings."[3][4]
- ^ Miller, Nancy Bea (2013-05-28). "Women in the Act of Painting: Island Sketching". Women in the Act of Painting. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
- ^ "History and Mission". Currier Museum of Art. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
- ^ Maud Briggs Knowlton, Annual Report, 1933
- ^ Nancy B. Tieken. ""Introduction" to American Art from the Currier Gallery of Art". www.tfaoi.com. Retrieved 2017-03-26.