October 1995 Blazer

Artist Mary Teasdel followed her dream to Paris

300 Rio Grande . Salt Lake City. LTT 84101 ( 801) 333- 3500 FAX ( 801) 533- 3503 Artist Mary Teasdel Followed Her Dream to Paris THE~ n nMsA~ RY T EASDEL WAS BORN IN SALT LAKE ClTY on November 6, 1863. It was an exciting time. Wagonloads of immigrants continued to arrive each summer and fall. And settlers and Indians continued to fight over who would control the land. Soldiers from Camp Douglas had discovered ore in Bingharn Canyon earlier in 1863 to begin an important industry. By the time Mary was five and a half the transcontinental d o a d had been completed at Promontory. That event helped to change Salt Lake City from a large farm village to a regional commercial center. Perhaps all the excitement in the air fired this young girl's imagination. Gifted with imagination and artistic talent, Mary was also lucky to have a wealthy father. Samuel P. Teasdel, a merchant, gave his daughter the best education Utah could offer. She studied both music and art and graduated from the University of Utah in 1886. In 1891 she studied under James T. Harwood, an important Utah painter. Samuel Teasdel did not believe in careers for women. Mary, however, was determined to become a working artist. To achieve that end she felt she must continue her training outside Utah. She spent the winter of 1897 studying at the National Academy of Design in New York. Still, she dreamed of studying in Paris, one of the world's great art centers. Her brother Henry knew of her dream. When he died suddenly, Mary discovered that his savings had been left to her. With Henry's money and her own savings she was able to pay for three years of study abroad. From 1899 to 1902 she spent long hours in the Paris studios working under the direction of well- known artists. Her fellow students came from many different countries and backgrounds. Classes met morning, afternoon, and evening. Studios were furnished with little more than stools, easels, and a platform for the model. Women students reportedly paid twice as much tuition as men. This was supposed to cover the cost of keeping their studios cleaner. The women were not so sure that the extra money was used for cleaning. Teasdel's most important teacher was the famous American- born artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler ( 1834- 1903). His studio was different. The rooms were freshly painted. The furnishings were chosen for an artistic effect. Whistler the artist was different, too. He always dressed to perfection. As he went from easel to easel to criticize the students' work he wore black kid gloves. Sometimes he painted on a student's canvas to illustrate a point. Instead of having his students draw the model in black and white, Whistler started them out with brushes and the same colors he used. ( more) Whistler's best- known painting is Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, often called Whistler's Mother. Some of Mary Teasdel's paintings- rite Grandmother's Tale and Dwch Girl Sewing, for example- seem to show the influence of Whistler. They, too, wuld be called ' arrangements in grey and black." These two paintings and some 20 more by Teasdel are hanging in the Smithfield, Utah, public library. She was also influenced by the spontaneity and clear, bright colors of the French Impressionists. Her painting of apple blossoms, also at the Smithfield library, shows her skill in this style. Teasdel attended sketch classes in the summer. Some were held in Normandy on the northwest coast of France. The artists lived in an old farmhouse in a picturesque, fortified town. On their evening walks they studied the changing effects of light on the river and countryside. The next morning they had to make two sketches from memory of what they had seen. Success came to Teasdel during her stay in Europe. She became the first Utah woman to have a painting accepted by the French Salon. She also exhibited her work in the International French Exposition. Following this recognition, she returned to Utah and opened her own studio and taught art at West High School. Gov. Heber M. Wells appointed her to the governing board of the Utah Art Institute. Later, she became its president. Teasdel painted in both oil and watercolor and was skilled at portraits and landscapes. Her style- daring for its day- was not understood by many Utahns at first. She suffered ridicule and rejection for a time. By 1908 her paintings were winning prizes at the Utah State Fair and other local competitions. Critics praised her work, and it was widely exhibited. In the early 1920s she moved to Los Angeles. Her paintings continued to be shown in Salt Lake City, however. Her friend Alice Merrill Home, Utah's early art patron, arranged these exhibits. In 1932 the largest collection of her works was acquired by the Smithfield library. On April 11, 1937, Mary Teasdel died. In following her dream she helped to shape Utah's artistic heritage. See Miriam B. Murphy, " Mary Teasdel Followed a Dream," Beehive History 6 ( 1980) THE HISTORY BLAZER is produced by the Utah State Historical Society and funded in part by a grant fiom the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. For more information about the Historical Society telephone [phone].