Kunstenaar
Geboren in Germantown, United States of America
Early Life and Family
Born: Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1870)
Parents: Anna Matlack (poet and playwright) and William Trost Richards (landscape painter)
Brother: Theodore William Richards (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1914)
Early exposure to artistic environment through her parents' professions.
Education and Artistic Training
Studied at Cowles Art School, Boston (1888), winning a scholarship.
Training with William Merritt Chase and John LaFarge at the Art Students League of New York (1890).
Awarded the Dodge Prize by the National Academy in 1890 for "An Interlude to Chopin" (painting now lost).
Studied at Académie Julian, Paris (between 1890 and 1895) during travels in Europe.
Career and Artistic Style
Frequently painted alongside her father in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1890-1895.
Relocated to London (1896), maintaining a public studio in Chelsea and exhibiting at the Royal Academy of Arts four times.
Illustrated publications with her mother, including "A New Alice in the Old Wonderland" (1895) and "Bill Nye's Comic History of England."
Married William Tenney Brewster (literature professor) in 1905; he encouraged her artistic pursuits.
Active professional output slowed after the death of her son, Herbert, in 1910.
Artistic Style: Known for Impressionist landscapes and portraits, often depicting scenes from her travels. Her work frequently utilized monochrome techniques (charcoal, black & white) to capture atmosphere and detail.
Major Achievements and Recognition
Won the Dodge Prize (1890).
Exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
Created a World War I poster for the Red Cross.
Commissioned to paint portraits of Columbia University professors.
Held solo exhibitions in New York art galleries throughout the 1910s.
Founding member and first vice president of artist members of the Scarsdale Art Association.
Member of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors.
Legacy and Rediscovery
Initially recognized with memorial exhibitions after her death (1952) at institutions like the Museum of the City of New York and the Butler Institute of American Art.
Her work was largely forgotten for decades, but experienced a revival in interest starting in the 1970s.
Major solo exhibition and catalogue published in 2008 (Hudson River Museum, Butler Institute of American Art, Fresno Metropolitan Museum), providing scholarly appraisals of her life and works.
Today, her paintings and illustrations are found in museums and private collections across the United States and Europe.
