Fiske, Gertrude

Gertrude Horsford Fiske (1879–1961) was an American painter. Fiske was part of the Boston School of painters in the early 20th century. She was the first woman appointed to the Massachusetts State Art Commission in 1929. Fiske was born in Boston and was the daughter of a prominent local lawyer. Before becoming an artist, she was a successful golfer. Fiske enrolled at the Boston Museum School sometime around 1904 where she studied with Edmund C. Tarbell, Frank Benson and Philip Hale. She also studied with Charles H. Woodbury in Ogunquit, Maine, and incorporated his recommendation to "paint in verbs not in nouns." Her early work was greatly influenced by this aesthetic, but she later moved in other directions. Fiske was a co-founder of the Guild of Boston Artists in 1914 and of the Boston Society of Etchers in 1917. Fiske was a well-established painter by the mid 1920s. In 1928 she was also a co-founder of the Ogunquit Art Association. During the Great Depression, Fiske maintained her full membership in the National Academy of Design. Fiske became a member of the National Association of Women Artists in 1918. Fiske was known for her strong depictions of women in traditional scenes, such...