Grace Arnold Albee
Grace Arnold Albee
1890 - 1985
Person TypeIndividual
Terms
French, 1864 - 1901
BiographyGrace Arnold Albee was born in 1890 on a farm in Scituate, Rhode Island. She started drawing at the age of three and went on to study at the Rhode Island School of Design from 1910-1912. In 1913 she married the mural painter, Percy F. Albee, and they moved to Paris in 1928. As a child, Albee had been fascinated with the engraved illustrations of her grandmother’s books and as an artist she made this medium her specialty. While in France, she developed an interest in depicting the surrounding rural and urban landscapes. Her works were exhibited in several Paris Salons and she had her first solo exhibition in France in 1932. The Albees moved back to the United States in 1933, settling in New York City. Albee's evocative prints continued to gain praise for their technical perfection. The family purchased a summer home in rural Bucks County, Pennsylvania, an area that would provide material for much of Albee’s subsequent work. Her reputation was well established by the 1940s, and in 1946 she was elected to full membership in the National Academy of Design. In 1976 the Brooklyn Museum held a major retrospective of her prints. Albee worked well into her 90s until her death in 1985. [IFPDA]
