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Artist Raisonnes
Albee, Grace
Brussel-Smith, Bernard
Calapai, Letterio
Crane, Alan
De Lue, Donald
Fiske, Gertrude
Gaugengigl, Ignaz
Lameyer, Paul
Margulies, Joseph
O'Connor, Henry
Ryder, Chauncey
Woodbury, Charles
Raisonne Notes:
        This ongoing raisonne project seeks to catalogue the printed works of Gertrude Fiske and place them alongside her painted works. Fiske was connected not only to Charles Woodbury's Ogunquit, ME school, but also the early 20th century Boston art scene and is thus an interesting figure to study.
        Unfortunately many of Fiske's etchings lack inscribed titles or dates and thus only through exhibition research have I been able to determine the approximate dating or potential titles for some of the etchings. Despite my best efforts to identify further prints that are not in the possession of Childs Gallery to include in this raisonne, the identification process remains incompletely in many cases. While the titles of a number of Fiske's etchings have been identified through exhibition records, they cannot be definitively matched to a specific etching.
        Fiske exhibited two prints titled "Birches" and "Young Birches" in 1917 at the Chicago Society of Etchers, as well as "Spring" and "Navy Yard" at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1918 and a print titled "Birches" in 1922 at the Third International Print Makers Exhibition at the Los Angeles Museum Exposition Park. Etchings included in this raisonne may be the same prints exhibited by Fiske, or they may pertain to prints so far missing from the project. Fiske also exhibited her etchings with the Boston Society of Etchers in 1917 as well as at the Concord, MA Art Exhibition in 1916. Information pertaining to Fiske's involvement in the Boston Society of Etchers, as well as information on the society itself has been difficult to uncover.
        A number of Fiske's etchings, particularly of coastal subjects bear a strong resemblance to etchings by Charles Woodbury of the same subjects. Woodbury served as Fiske's teacher at the Ogunquit School, but also as a companion later in life, suggesting a further investigation of the connection between their printmaking techniques and artistic styles. Some questions of attribution to either Fiske or Woodbury may arise, since many by both artists are marked only by the Gertrude Fiske estate stamp and are lacking an artist's signature.
        This raisonne is in progress. Please email info@raisonne.org with questions or comments about this raisonne, as well as any information concerning the titles or dates of any Fiske print. Any help would be appreciated.

Edited and compiled by:
Zachary Dorner
 

Gertrude Fiske

American 1879 - 1961

        Born in Boston in 1879, Gertrude Fiske gave up a promising golf career to pursue art when she enrolled at the MFA School in 1904. Fiske studied under Benson, Tarbell and Hale during her seven year curriculum at the Museum School, while spending her summers in Ogunquit, ME enrolled in Charles H. Woodbury's art classes. Woodbury's style both in painting and print making, had a lasting effect on her work.
        Fiske exhibited regularly following her graduation from the Museum School in 1912, winning major prizes for her painting, including the Clark and Shaw prizes. Fiske's painting is characterized by its vibrant colors, lively brushwork and technical skill, especially in portraiture. While her paintings were more widely exhibited, Fiske also completed a body of etchings that she exhibited during her lifetime at venues including the Chicago Society of Etchers and the Concord Art Association. Fiske's etchings show a triumph of the line as an artistic gesture, while also examining the emergence of modern technology in her environment, with her images of Boston's factories and bridges. As seen in her paintings, intimate interior scenes and portraits were another recurring theme in Fiske's graphic oeuvre. Influenced heavily by her long artistic and personal relationship with Woodbury, Fiske was a founding member of the Ogunquit Art Association in 1930 and his influence can especially be seen in her depictions of coastal Maine and rural New England.
        Although she exhibited nationally, Fiske was rooted in Boston, maintaining a studio at the Riverway and becoming the first woman named to the Massachusetts Art Commission in 1929. She was also a founding member of the Boston Society of Etchers and the Guild of Boston Artists. Fiske was also a member of the National Academy of Design, the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, the Copley Society, as well as the Cosmopolitan Club, New York.

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