Art Legacy: Gertrude Stanwood
My Great Great Aunt Gertrude Stanwood was a seasonal resident to Cape Ann. I discovered through this painting who her friends were, reaffirming my suspicions that she was close with Lillian Hale and Gabrielle Clements. A relative of Theresa and Meyerowitz hold many letters exemplifying their friendship with Gertrude and their artistic kinship.
As a young adult my mother showed me a crate full of Gertrude’s paintings and etchings. The family in general was not interested in Art so her works lay in the attic untouched. Several decades later, now an adult, I returned to the box and saw familiar scenes of Cape Ann, much still the same. I found prints done by Hoyt and Clements too which were possibly part of a swap which artists tend to do with friends.
My family moved to Cape Ann seasonally when I was 8 and bought a house in 1978. Later I realized one of Gertrude’s paintings was created at the base of what is now my driveway, an edge of the property purchased in ‘78. So now I literally walk in Gertrude’s foot steps daily which is a wonderful sense of connection to her and artists of the area in the past. She is my Grandfather’s mother’s sister.
Theresa Bernstein Painting of Gertrude Stanwood’s Elderberry Wine Party
In the collection of The Cape Ann Museum , Gloucester, MA
[This canvas] was painted in Folly Cove ... and it is an elderberry wine party at the home of Gertrude Stanwood, who is sitting in the front with her back to us. On the far left is the aunt from Savannah, in profile, with her cane. Next to her is Ellen Day Hale (talking to Mrs. Stanwood). Next to her is Margaret Hoyt, wife of Professor William Hoyt, first cousin to President Wilson. The center lady is Lilian Westcott Hale, painter and wife of Philip Hale.... Next, facing her is Gabrielle de Veaux Clements.... In the left rear corner is Captain Burnham who caught lobsters. The next lady is Mrs. Frisbee who served meals on Folly Point where the Finnish Colony was located. Then there was Dorothy Grafly who was a writer for the "Christian Science Monitor" and ... the daughter of the sculptor Charles Grafly. At the far right is Nancy Hale, daughter of Lilian Westcott Hale and writer for the "New Yorker" and other publications. Then there is ... Dr. William Hoyt, historian and son of Margaret Hoyt.
Theresa Bernstein came to Gloucester for the first time in 1916, for a brief period in the early 1920s when Ellen Day Hale loaned the couple a cottage in Folly Cove ( still present today) called Gaviotta. This is possibly the house Gertrude lived in for some time on her own which was confirmed by my Great Aunt.
In a letter dated February 10, 1986, Bernstein writes about her painting New England Ladies (1925):
Gabrielle DeVeaux Clements and Margaret Hoyt were two printmaking artists who collaborated and exhibited their work along the East Coast in the early 1900s. They were known for their experimentation with color printmaking techniques and were associated with the painter-etcher movement.
Key Information
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Collaboration and Exhibitions: Clements and Hoyt exhibited together at the Smithsonian in November 1936. Their work was part of a movement that sought to elevate printmaking as an original art form, moving away from commercial reproduction.
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Color Printmaking Pioneers: The artists were particularly interested in color etching and conducted extensive experiments in the medium. Clements wrote to a curator that they had "lately gained better control of the medium, and greater simplicity".
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Technical Influence: Clements and Hoyt were significantly inspired by French artist René Ligeron's 1924 treatise on color intaglio, which Ellen Day Hale translated into English for the Smithsonian exhibition.
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Educational Context: While the sources primarily focus on their artistic collaboration and technical innovations, they were part of a broader network of artists in the early 20th century who were involved in teaching and promoting printmaking on the East Coast. The Art Students League in New York, for example, was a major center for printmaking education during this period, with figures like Will Barnet teaching the craft for decades.
Their work contributed to the "Golden Age of American Printmaking" (1900-1950), a period marked by a revival of interest in original printmaking techniques and the establishment of numerous print societies and workshops across the United States.
Paintings by Gertrude Stanwood
