Susan Watkins and Women Artists of the Progressive Era

This survey of the life and work of American painter Susan Watkins explores how she and other women artists carved paths to success at the turn of the twentieth century

In a career that spanned only a little more than fifteen years, American artist Susan Watkins (1875–1913) reached the heights of her profession, exhibiting regularly at the Paris Salon and earning accolades among the American art press. This study offers a close look at Watkins's story and considers how women artists of the era overcame barriers within the institutions that structured the professional art world, often through training and exhibiting at established and traditional settings.

Exploring what artistic and commercial success looked like for Watkins and her contemporaries, scholars reexamine Watkins's achievements and highlight the overlooked progressive nature of her art. Essays discuss women's art training in the United States, women's art clubs in Paris, the expatriate artist community in Capri, and the role of racial and class politics in careers such as Watkins's. With more than seventy-five objects—including paintings, drawings, photographs, and manuscripts—from the artist's personal archive and works by her peers and teachers—such as William Merritt Chase, Meta Warrick Fuller, Anna Klumpke, Elizabeth Nourse, Lilla Cabot Perry, and Henry Ossawa Tanner—this beautifully illustrated book offers a new way to understand the stakes and accomplishments of women artists working at the turn of the twentieth century.

Published in association with the Chrysler Museum of Art

Exhibition Schedule:

Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis

(July 13–September 28, 2025)

Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk

(October 17, 2025–January 11, 2026)