Frank Russell Wadsworth
BORN: 1874 Chicago
DIED: October 9, 1905 Madrid[1]
MARRIED: Never
TRAINING
1887, 1895 Art Institute of Chicago
1896 Madrid, William M. Chase[2]
1897-1898 New York, Chase School of Art
1898 New York Schoolof Art, William M. Chase
1901, 1902 Shinnecock Summer School with William Merritt Chase[3]
RESIDENCES
1874-1905 Chicago
1895-1896 Oak Park, Illinois
TRAVEL[4]
1895 New York
1896 Pawtucket, RI[5]
1896 Madrid, Spain
1901, 1902 Shinnecock, NY (summers)
1903 Haarlem, Holland(summers)
1903 Bristol, Pennsylvania
1905 Madrid, Spain
MEMBERSHIPS/OFFICES
ChicagoSociety of Artists; Cosmopolitan Club of Chicago; Municipal Art League; Society of Western Artists
HONORS
1895 Spring term, four Honorable Mentions, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1895 Fall term, two Honorable Mentions, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1904 Bronze Medal, Universal Exposition, St. Louis
1904 Young Fortnightly Club Prize, Art Institute, Chicago & Vicinity[6]
1904 Finalist, ChicagoSociety of Artists Silver Medal, Art Institute, Chicago & Vicinity[7]
1906 Municipal Art League Purchase Prize, Art Institute, Chicago and Vicinity[8]
SELECTED JURIES SERVED
1904 Art Institute of Chicago, American Annual
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Art Institute of Chicago, American Annual 1896, 1897, 1903, 1904
Art Institute of Chicago, American Watercolors 1895, 1896,[9]1897, 1902
Art Institute, Chicago & Vicinity 1897, 1898, 1902,[10]1903,[11]1904, 1905
BostonArt Club 1909
Carnegie Institute International annual 1907
Cincinnati Art Museum annual 1905
Clausen Gallery, New York 1907[12]
Cosmopolitan Club annual 1896, 1897
Int’l Society of Sculptors, Painters & Grauvers, London 1905[13]
Municipal Art League Collection, Garfield Park Gallery, Chicago 1936
National Academy of Design 1907
NebraskaArt Association 1907
O’Brien’s Art Gallery, Chicago 1903[14]
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 1896, 1904-1906
Richmond, Indiana Art Association, ninth annual exhibition of American Artists 1905[15]
Society of American Artists 1898, 1903
Society of Western Artists annual 1896, 1903
St. Louis Art Museum, Special Exhibition, Paintings By Artists of Chicago and Vicinity1902
TennesseeCentennial & International Exhibit 1897[16]
Universal Exposition, St. Louis 1904 [17]
Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore, Masterworks of American Impressionism from the Pfeil Collection 1992[18]
ONE, TWO OR THREE MAN EXHIBITIONS
1905 (2/25) Chicago Academy of Fine Arts[19]
1906 Art Institute of Chicago, memorial
1907 Clausen Galleries, New York[20]
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
Illinois Historical Art Project;[21] Union League Club of Chicago[22]
INTERESTING NOTES
He was the son of Dr. Francis L. Wadsworth and Sarah F. W. Wadsworth (deceased July 24, 1925). His mother became close friends with William Merritt Chase and his family through their shared travel and Frank’s study. He died in Madrid while there painting with Chase.
[1]A brief obituary appears in: Daily Inter Ocean, 10/24/1905 and Lena M McCauley, “Art,” Chicago Evening Post, 10/28/1905, p.9, and Chicago Chronicle, 11/19/1905, in Art Institute of Chicago Scrapbooks, vol. 21.
[2]It is by inference he was with Chase’s class in Madrid. His studying with Chase is mentioned in Catalogue of the Ninth Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings and Sculpture by American Artists, (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 10/20/1896), p.47.
[3]Ronald G. Pisano, The Students of William Merritt Chase, (Huntington, NY: Heckscher Museum, 1973).
[4]In 1903 and 1905 he was with Chase’s summer classes abroad.
[5]Letter from Patricia Shippey to Joel Dryer 3/20/1996. It is presumed he was visiting the Robinsons, relatives of his stepmother who were resident there. See also his entry in the annual exhibition of American water colors at the Art Institute of Chicago.
[6]James W. Pattison, “Pattison’s Art Talk,” Chicago Journal, 2/6/1904, p.4.
[7]“Award Medal To Johanson,” Chicago Tribune, 2/14/1904, p.5. This medal was awarded to the best group of paintings. James W. Pattison, “Pattison’s Art Talk,” Chicago Journal, 2/20/1904, p.4.
[8]The prize was awarded his Wharf of Red Boats, now in the collection of the Union League Club of Chicago
[9]“Productions of American Artists,” Chicago Tribune, 4/16/1896, p.10. Wadsworth had three works accepted for the exhibition.
[10]Discussion of his Shinnecock works is found in James W. Pattison, “Pattison’s Art Talk,” Chicago Journal, 2/22/1902, p.4.
[11]Significant discussion of his work can be found in James W. Pattison, “Pattison’s Art Talk,” Chicago Journal, 2/21/1903, p.3. Other commentary was made by Edward G. Holden, “In The Field of Art,” Chicago Tribune, 2/22/1903, p.44. See also: Henry Charles Payne, “Sense And Sentiment In the Work Of Chicago Artists,” Sunday Inter Ocean, 2/22/1903, Magazine section, p.4.
[12]“McPherson School Recipient of Painting,” Ravenswood Citizen, 6/1/1907, p.1. The donated painting is now lost.
[13]Arthur Nicholas Hosking, The Artists Year Book, (Chicago: The Art League Publishing Association, 1905), p.209.
[14]Lena M. McCauley, “Art And Artists,” Chicago Evening Post, 3/21/1903, p.6. James W. Pattison, “Pattison’s Art Talk,” Chicago Journal, 3/14/1903, p.3.
[15]“Richmond Art Exhibit Ready For Inspection,” The Evening Item [Richmond], 6/7/1905, pp.1, 4.
[16]He exhibited in both the Oil painting and Watercolor sections.
[17]“Art at World’s Fair. Work of Chicagoans,” Chicago Tribune, 5/3/1904, p.4.
[18]The show is reviewed in “American impressionism show at Walters,” Baltimore Sun, 5/3/1992, pp. G1, G3.
[19]Lena M. McCauley, “Art and Artists,” Chicago Evening Post, 2/25/1905, p.8.
[20]The exhibit was extensively reviewed in “Two Memorial Art Exhibitions,” New York Times, 3/28/1907, p.5.
[21]Previously in the Pfeil Collection, see the essay entry by William H. Gerdts in Masterworks of American Impressionism From the Pfeil Collection, (Alexandria, VA: Art Services International, 1992), p.256.
[22]His A River Lavadero, Madrid was illustrated in Chicago Modern 1893-1945, (Chicago: Terra Museumand University of Chicago Press, 2004), p.159.