(As a result, some records list her as Matilda Van Wyck.) Unusually for an early 20th-century female artist, marriage scarcely impacted Browne’s career. Matilda Browne married Frederick Van Wyck (1853–1936) in 1917. Perhaps, her unconventional choice to specialize in both a stereotypically female genre (flower painting) and a stereotypically male one (livestock painting) made her difficult to label or pigeonhole.
However, this doesn’t seem to have held Browne back. Surviving reviews include the gendered comments typical of the time, mentioning her feminine appearance and supposedly masculine way of painting. The press generally praised her works, especially her animal paintings. She also received an honorable mention in the 1892 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. She participated in numerous artists’ associations and often showed at the National Academy of Design, though she was never elected a member. Matilda Browne made, exhibited, and sold her work throughout a decades-long career, winning both awards and public acclaim. Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, Connecticut. Bucolic Landscape, a characteristic Browne image of two cows in a serene outdoor setting, adorns the double-paneled wooden door to Griswold’s bedroom. In fact, she found such respect amongst artists like Childe Hassam and Willard Metcalf that she had the honor of being invited to paint on the house itself. Although the group generally scorned female artists, these men made an exception for Browne, taking to both her professionalism and her good humor. She became a member of the Old Lyme colony, a summer destination for American Impressionists centered at Florence Griswold’s boarding house. Many of her best-loved artworks depict local Connecticut settings. Matilda Browne in ConnecticutĪfter returning from Europe, Browne lived primarily in Connecticut for the rest of her life. Later on, she visited Puerto Rico in 1912, where she created vibrant images of the local scenery. She also spent time in Holland, traditionally a hotbed for her chosen genres of animal and floral painting.
She studied in Paris, then the center of the art world, and exhibited at the Salon of 1890. Matilda Browne, Saltbox by Moonlight, n.d., Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, Connecticut.Īs a young adult, Browne travelled to Europe with her mother from 1888 to 1892.
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