By STEVEN JUPITER
MONTPELIER—The Pittsford Historical Society (PHS) has put together a fascinating exhibit on female artists who lived and worked in the town from the mid-1800s through the mid-1900s. The show is currently up at the Vermont Historical Society (VHS) in Montpelier and offers a unique perspective on Pittsford.
At a time when women were expected to keep house and look after their families, it was rare to find those who had freedom to develop their artistic talents. This exhibit, however, takes an admiring look at a number of Pittsford women who explored their creativity and left behind an impressive body of work.
There was Martha Wood (1844 – 1930) and Lucia Gilbert (1832 – 1998), who made a business of painting copies of the “Great Masters” on slate in the 1870s. A 1972 oil painting of a Pittsford landscape shows the influence of the Hudson River School that dominated American landscape art in the 1800s.
Hilda Belcher (1881 – 1963) spent her youth in Pittsford, in the late 1800s studied art in New York City, and won national prizes for her watercolors. Her “Woman in Yellow” is on display at VHS, somewhat reminiscent of John Singer Sargent or William Merritt Chase. Her portrait in watercolor “Producer and Cast” of 1938 features both a sensitive depiction of her brother and a slightly unsettling puppet he had made. In fact, the wonderfully crafted puppet is in the show as well. Ms. Belcher’s relations still live in the family house in Pittsford.
Mary Randall Allen (1878 – 1968) was a photographer who carried a camera (on display) everywhere she went in Pittsford, recording a good deal of town life around the turn of the last century. The PHS has been earnestly preserving the images by scanning the fragile glass negatives. A self-portrait from ca. 1902 shows a young woman smiling as she gazes at a photograph held in her lap. Behind her on the wall are two cut-paper silhouettes, a style very much in vogue in the 1800s. Portraits within a portrait of the artist…
Katherine Crockett (1898 – 1979) was born in Brandon but lived much of her life on Furnace Road in Pittsford. She was known for her block and silkscreen prints, a process which allowed her to produce thousands of Christmas cards. She started a printing business that she eventually sold. PHS has a substantial amount of her old inventory, much of which is on display at VHS.
According to Stephen Belcher of PHS, the exhibit at VHS came to be when someone from VHS came to see the work when it was on display at the Maclure Library in Pittsford this past year. VHS has a gallery that it provides to local historical societies and a planned exhibit there had just been cancelled, leaving an opening that VHS asked PHS to fill.
“We hope people will enjoy the exhibit and that they will walk away with an appreciation of the talent on display,” wrote Mr. Belcher to The Reporter. “We also hope to justify our purpose as a storehouse for community history and to share some highlights [of our collection.]”
“A Century of Creative Women in Pittsford” runs at the Vermont Historical Society in Montpelier through January 25, 2025. There will be a reception at VHS on Saturday, September 14 from 1 pm to 3 pm.
