The Life of American Artist Alice Archer Sewall James, 1870-1955
Byย Alice Blackmer Skinner
Stay by Me, Roses opens a window on the life of a unique nineteenth-century woman — Alice Archer Sewall James (1870-1955), a painter, illustrator, and consummate artist.
E-Book, 268 pages
Description
Alice Archer Sewall Jamesโknown affectionately as “Archie”โlived a life that most women of her time could only dream about. Educated from a young age and encouraged by her family to express herself in all forms of art, she grew into an irrepressible woman who never stopped looking for ways to pass her experience on to others.
This biography traces her life from her childhood in Urbana, Ohio, to teenage years spent traveling in Europe, to her challenging marriage to John H. James, heir to a family fortune built by his entrepreneurial grandfather of the same name. Her father, Swedenborgian minister and educator Frank Sewall, was her greatest fan, supporting her in good times, as she started to build a reputation as a painter and illustrator, and in bad, as poor health forced her to abandon her art and put a strain on her personal relationships. In later years, howeverโlike the roses in the title poemโshe reemerged as an artist and as a teacher, inspiring a new generation of painters at Urbana University.
While Archie’s Swedenborgian heritage gave structure and meaning to her life, it was her inner creative drive that truly touched others. Stay by Me, Roses opens a window on the life and times of a unique nineteenth-century woman.
Reviews
“The desire to create never truly dies. Stay By Me, Roses: The Life of American Artist Alice Archer Sewall James, 1870-1955 chronicles the story of “Grandma Moses of the Midwest,” a woman who while abandoning her dreams of being an artist early in life to be a housewife, later refound her calling. Alice Blackmer Skinner, a research psychologist, tells her story well with attention to history and detail. Stay By Me, Roses is a fine artistic biography, very much recommended read.”
โLibrary Bookwatch, November 2011
Additional information
Author | Alice Blackmer Skinner |
---|---|
Format | e-book |
ISBN | 978-0-87785-618-4 |
Length | 268 pages |
Release Date | 2011 |