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Helena de Kay Gilder

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Sarah Helena de Kay Gilder
Richard Watson Gilder, Helena de Kay Gilder, and Rodman de Kay Gilder
Born1846
New York City, NY
Died28 May 1916
New York City, NY
EducationCooper Union
OccupationPainter
SpouseRichard Watson Gilder
ChildrenSeven, including
Rodman de Kay Gilder
Rosamond Gilder
Parents
Relatives

Sarah Helena de Kay Gilder (1846 - 28 May 1916) was an American painter, illustrator, and cultural tastemaker from New York City.

Early life and education

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Sarah Helena de Kay Gilder (also known as Helena de Kay Gilder after her marriage) was born in New York City in 1846. She was the daughter of George Coleman de Kay and Janet Halleck de Kay (nee Drake), and granddaughter of the poet Joseph Rodman Drake.[1] Her father was a naval officer who died when she was only two years old. After her father's death, her mother moved her and her brother, George, to Dresden Germany where they lived until 1861, before moving back to the United States so her mother could be closer to her older sister Katherine after she became a mother. She was then enrolled in a girl's boarding school located in Farmington, Connecticut.

She studied art at the Cooper Union Institute as well as at the National Academy of Design in the 1870s, during the first years that life classes were open to women.[2] She also as studied privately with artists Winslow Homer, John La Farge[2] and Albert Pinkham Ryder.[3]

Marriage and children

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Mr. and Mrs. Gilder at the time of their marriage

In May 1872, Helena met her husband, Richard Watson Gilder, in the offices of Scribner's Monthly, where Richard was then working as a managing editor. In February 1874, Helena and Richard announced their engagement, and by June of that year they were married.[4] Winslow Homer gave de Kay a portrait he painted of her as a wedding gift, inscribed with her wedding date in the lower right hand corner.[4] In 1884, the artist John La Farge created a stained glass panel to commemorate the Gilder's tenth wedding anniversary.[5] It was later refashioned as a firescreen during a remodel of their house by friend and architect Stanford White.[5]

Richard is best known for his work as the editor of The Century Magazine and as a poet. Some of his works include The New Day (1875), Five Books of Song (1894), In the Heights (1905), and several more. Helena and Richard amassed a large number of letters in correspondence with each other over their marriage,[6][7] and Helena was the subject of several love poems written by her husband.

The Gilders had seven children. Her son, Rodman de Kay Gilder,[8] and her youngest daughter, Rosamond Gilder, were authors. Her daughter Dorothea de Kay Gilder was a subject of painter Cecilia Beaux[9][10] and had a short career as a stage actress.[3]

Work

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Gilder aspired to be an oil painter, and often did the accompanying illustrations for her husband's books of poetry, like Two Worlds: and Other Poems.[11] Helena de Kay Gilder's best known work was cited as "her figure pictures, 'The Young Mother' and 'The Last Arrow' " by The Art Amateur.[12] Her impact on the art world spread beyond her own art production. Gilder contributed to the art world by helping to organize the Arts Student League in 1875, and co-found[1] the Society of American Artists in 1887 which provided primary younger classically artists with the opportunity to be a part of an alternative association.[13] Her motivation for starting the organization occurred after she showed one painting at The National Academy of Design's annual show, while she was there as a student. Her painting received a poor location within the show and she felt her paintings location reflected the academy's reluctance to accept new types of art.[14] The goal of the Society of American Artists was to move in a different direction than the National Academy and other conventional artists groups, while showing that art is valid in many different forms and styles, and can be left up to the artist.[15] Along with Gilder, writers including Clarence Cook, Charles de Kay, Richard C. Brown, and her husband Richard Watson Gilder criticized the conservative mindset of the National Academy of Design.[16]

Dorothea and Francesca by Cecilia Beaux

Cultivation of artists and portraiture

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Helena and her family were the subjects of numerous portraits by several of close friends and artists, including Augustus Saint-Gaudens,[17] Cecilia Beaux,[18][9][19][20] and Winslow Homer.[4]

Relationship with Winslow Homer and Mary Hallock Foote

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Helena de Kay Gilder is often known as a muse and romantic interest of Winslow Homer.[21] It is thought that Gilder and Winslow may have met through her brother Charles, who had been connected to Winslow since 1867. He had stayed in studio in the University Building in New York City while Winslow was in France at the time.[21] Gilder and Winslow spent a considerable amount of time together, and it is the correspondence through letters that have given indication that Winslow made multiple attempts to romantically pursue her. Though Homer is known to have painted several women in upscale resorts across the Northeast, Gilder is known to be one of the few that is nameable.[22] Gilder is known to be the female subject in many of his works like The Butterfly (1872), as well as speculated to be the subject of other unconfirmed works by Homer.[23]

One of Gilder's best known friendships was will illustrator Mary Hallock Foote. Though from very different social circles, and socioeconomic backgrounds, the two became close friends while they were students, and shared a lengthy correspondence throughout their lives.[13] Gilder and Foote had large impacts on each other's careers as they both provided each other with critiques and feedback on their work, and Gilder's husband offered Foote several artistic commissions for his magazine.[13] It was also through the Gilders that Foote was introduced to several other female artists and publishers at the time.[citation needed]

Women's Right to Vote

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Gilder believed that women were "men’s equal, and almost as well educated, as good and as intelligent in ordinary matters,” but opposed granting them the right to vote.[24]

Death

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Helena de Kay Gilder died on 28 May 1916[25][26] after an operation for appendicitis.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "R. W. GILDER'S WIDOW DIES.; Was Widely Known as an Artist and Friend of Writers". The New York Times. 29 May 1916. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Paint box with nude study". metmuseum.org. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Biographical Note | A Finding Aid to the Dorothea Gilder papers regarding Cecilia Beaux, 1897-1920 | Digitized Collection | Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution". www.aaa.si.edu. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Portrait of Helena de Kay". Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Firescreen". metmuseum.org. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  6. ^ Gilder, Richard (1916). The Letters of Richard Watson Gilder.
  7. ^ "archives.nypl.org -- Richard Watson Gilder papers". archives.nypl.org. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  8. ^ "The Battery Has Seen Much History in the Making; Rodman Gilder's Fascinating and Informal Record of Men And Events". The New York Times. 10 January 1937. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  9. ^ a b Beaux, Cecilia (1898), Dorothea and Francesca, retrieved 17 June 2022
  10. ^ "Girl with lyre - portrait of Dorothea Gilder , 1905". www.artnet.com. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  11. ^ Gilder, Richard Watson; de Kay Gilder, Helena (1891). Two worlds: and other poems. New York: The Century Co.
  12. ^ "Some Lady Artists of New York". The Art Amateur. 3 (2): 27–29. 1880. JSTOR 25627147.
  13. ^ a b c Rainey, Sue (2007). "Mary Hallock Foote: A Leading Illustrator of the 1870s and 1880s". Winterthur Portfolio. 41 (2): 97–139. doi:10.1086/518924. S2CID 162721129.
  14. ^ Zalesch, Saul (2011). "Society of American Artists". Oxford Art Online. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T2090974. ISBN 978-1-884446-05-4.
  15. ^ J. B. F. W. (1879). "Society of American Artists". The Aldine-The Art Journal of America. 9 – via JSTOR.
  16. ^ Zalesch, Saul E. (1994). "Competition and Conflict in the New York Art World, 1874-1879". Winterthur Portfolio. 29 (2/3): 103–120. doi:10.1086/496657. S2CID 143879078.
  17. ^ "Richard Watson Gilder, Helena de Kay Gilder, and Rodman de Kay Gilder; modeled 1879, cast ca. 1883–84 Augustus Saint-Gaudens". metmuseum.org. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  18. ^ "Helena de Kay Gilder; 1911 Cecilia Beaux". metmuseum.org. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  19. ^ Smee, Sabastian (18 May 2022). "In Chicago, a bravura portrait of sisterly harmony and frizzy hair". The Washington Post.
  20. ^ "Sold at auction Cecilia Beaux (American, 1855-1942) Portrait of Rodman Gilder Auction Number 2220 Lot Number 358 | Skinner Auctioneers". Skinner Inc. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  21. ^ a b Burns, Sarah (2002). "The Courtship of Winslow Homer". Magazine Antiques. 161 (2): 68–75.
  22. ^ Cikovsky Jr., Nicolai; Kelly, Franklin; Homer, Winslow (1995). Winslow Homer. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  23. ^ Burns, Sarah (2002). "The Courtship of Winslow Homer". Magazine Antiques. 161 (2): 68–75.
  24. ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (14 August 2020). "The Women Who Fought Against the Vote". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  25. ^ "Helena de Kay Gilder (1846-1916)". The Buffalo Commercial: 12. 29 May 1916. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  26. ^ "MRS. GILDER'S WILL FILED.; Estate of Editor's Widow Is Left to Her Five Children". The New York Times. 14 July 1916. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
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