Eva Watson-Schutze originally intended to become a painter which was the beginning goal for many late-19th-century photographers. Watson-Schutze spent six years studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, primarily with Thomas Eakins. Like so many artists she arrived at a point where the passion and curiosity for photography became evident. By 1896 she had opened her own Philadelphia portrait studio. She quickly established her photographic reputation and began exhibiting her works in the prestigious Philadelphia Salon and in group shows that traveled to London and Paris. She also began writing articles on photography for several periodicals; and was labeled one of the "Foremost Women Photographers of America."

She moved to Chicago in 1902, and was elected to membership in the Linked Ring, an important London-based organization that promoted "pictorialism", which emphasized the artistic as opposed to the purely documentary aspects of photography. The next year she was a founding member of the Photo-Secession, and in 1905. she had her work exhibited at Alfred Stieglitz's influential New York gallery, 291.

Watson-Schutze established a new studio in Chicago and had a large following of patrons attracted to her romantic, yet powerfully composed portraits and figure studies.

Medium : 1 photographic print : platinum

Created/Published : ca.1900

Creator : Eva Watson-Schutze, photographer, 1867-1935

Part of the Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection of Artistic Photographs housed in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress

Availability: Usually ships in one week

Product #: cph3g09072