Bessie Potter Vonnoh

Raised by a single mother in Chicago, Bessie Potter Vonnoh is known for her sculpted figurines of upper and middle-class women and idealized representa-tions of motherhood. Having trained at the Art Institute of Chicago, she opened her own studio in 1894. One year later, she traveled to London and Paris, where she visited the studio of Auguste Rodin, a pivotal experience for her practice.

In 1899, Vonnoh married American Impressionist painter Robert Vonnoh, whom she had met in Chicago while preparing for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition with her former teacher Lorado Taft. Here, Vonnoh’s husband depicts her in academic garb, a sign of her high professional status and the couple’s deep mutual respect.

Highlights of Vonnoh’s distinguished career include her first solo exhibition in 1910 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and her election as a full member of the National Academy of Design in 1921.