Biography from AskART:
| Born in San Francisco, California on Augurst 22, 1856, Anna Klumpke, as
a very small girl was given a "Rosa" doll, named for the French animal
painter Rosa Bonheur who was so famous in the 19th century that dolls
were made in her image. From early childhood Anna was fascinated
with the career of Bonheur.
Anna's mother left her husband and moved with Anna to Europe where the
latter studied in Paris under Lefebvre and Robert-Fleury at Académie
Julian (1883-84). While at the academy she won the grand prize for
outstanding student of the year, and her portrait of her mother was
favorably received at the Paris Salon. She returned to the U.S.
and taught in Boston for a few years.
In 1898 she obtained an interview with Bonheur for the purpose of
painting her portrait. Klumpke lived with Bonheur until her death the
following year and was the inheritor of her estate. The ensuing
years were divided between France, Boston, and San Francisco.
After returning to San Francisco in the 1930s, she exhibited at the
Golden Gate International Exposition, and on September 18, 1940 at
Treasure Island she was nominated by popular vote as one of
California's most distinguished women artists.
She authored the biography Rosa Bonheur, "sa vie son oeuvre" as well as her autobiography entitled Memoirs of an Artist (Wright and Potter Printing Company, Boston, 1940).
Klumpke died in San Francisco on February 9, 1942.
Memberships included the San Francisco Art Association, American Federation of Arts, and Society of Western Artists.
Exhibitions:
Paris Salon, 1885, 1887, 1901
Versailles, 1886 (silver medal)
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1889 (gold medal)
Unity Art Club (Boston), 1892
Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St Louis), 1904 (medal);
San Francisco Museum of Art 1939 (solo).
Collections:
California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Luxembourg Museum (Paris)
Fontainebleau Palace
De Young Museum
University of Chicago
Metropolitan Museum (Bonheur portrait)
Smithsonian Institution | Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
American Art Annual 1907-33; Who's Who in American Art 1936-41; Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers (Fielding, Mantle); Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs (Bénézit, E); Artists of the American West (Doris Dawdy); Memoirs of An Artist. | | Nearly 20,000 biographies can be found in Artists in California 1786-1940 by Edan Hughes and is available for sale ($150). For a full book description and order information please click here. |
Biography from AskART:
| Born in San Francisco, Anna Klumpke became well known for her portraiture. Many of
her paintings are large size and show figures against elaborate
backgrounds. She
was educated in Germany and then for eight years, 1880 to 1888, studied
intermittently in Paris at the Académie Julian where her teachers
included Tony Robert-Fleury and Jules Lefebvre.
She was there only a few years after the Académie began admitting
women, and beginning 1882, exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon,
winning honorable mention in 1885. A painting, Catinou Knitting, 55 X 69, was exhibited at the Paris
Salon in 1887, and is considered a testimony to her skill with color and
form.
In 1891, she set up a studio for portrait painting in Boston, and then
in 1898 returned to France to do a portrait of Rosa Bonheur, famous
French painter of animals whom Klumpke had long admired. Bonheur
became her friend and companion and the women lived together for one
year at Chateau de By, Bonheur's home near Fontainebleau. In
1899, Bonheur died, and Klumpke inherited her home and studio, and from
that time dedicated herself to promoting the legacy of Bonheur.
She founded and then taught at the Rosa Bonheur Memorial Art School,
and in 1908, published the book, Rosa Bonheur, Her Life, Her Work.
The ensuing years were spent between France, Boston, and San Francisco,
where she settled in the 1930s until her death in 1942. Two years
earlier, Anna Klumpke's reminiscences were published in the book Memoirs of an Artist.
Sources include:
Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein, American Women Artists
H. Barbara Weinberg, "American Women Painters in Paris 1860-1900", Fine Art Connoisseur, October 2006
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