November 6-12, 2003

artpicks

"Lessons from the Master: Violet Oakley and the Illustration Class of Howard Pyle at Drexel Institute"

by Tricia Ferdinand

Art

Violet Oakley had talent. Not only was she a renowned illustrator, painter and muralist, but in 1905 she received the largest commission for a female artist up to that date when she created 43 paintings for the Pennsylvania State Capitol. In fact, many say she was the greatest woman muralist the United States has produced.

What's most notable about Violet Oakley, though, besides her many awards and recognitions, is that she was able to have a successful career in the arts during a time when women weren't even allowed to vote. During this “Golden Age,” there were very few schools for women, but Oakley was lucky enough to attend a class taught by famed illustrator Howard Pyle at what used to be known as the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Technology.

Pyle was “the man behind the women,” says art historian Patricia Ricci, who will speak about Oakley's accomplishments at Drexel University's Westphal Picture Gallery this Friday. Pyle's Quaker egalitarian values prompted him to invite women like Oakley to attend his classes, and it was with Pyle's help and support that artists such as Jessie Willcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green and Oakley become successful. (These three women were known as the Red Rose Girls because of the Red Rose Inn they rented together in Villanova.)

Ricci, who is also the curator of the Violet Oakley Foundation, will use material Oakley wrote herself to talk about the artist's work and the time she spent in Pyle's classes at Drexel, which now houses more than 50 drawings by Oakley as part of their collection.

“Lessons from the Master: Violet Oakley and the Illustration Class of Howard Pyle at Drexel Institute,” Fri., Nov. 7, 6 p.m., free, Westphal Picture Gallery, Drexel University, 32nd and Chestnut sts., third floor, 215-895-0480.