KATE ANTOINETTE WILLIAMS (December 15, 1877 – August 8, 1939)
A.K.A. “Kate A. Williams”
Painter in oil and watercolor, etcher. Williams was born in New York, the daughter of Kate Antoinette Barstow (1853 – 1921), for whom she was named, and the English born Edward Gildon Williams (1853 – 1937). Her father was a noted portrait engraver who worked in the old English mezzotint style of printmaking and created portraits of industrialists and notable politicians, including Abraham Lincoln. He was descended from a family of prominent artists.
Edward Gildon Williams was actually born “Edward Gildon Manton.” He arrived with his parents in America as a small child and upon arrival the family changed their surname to “Williams.” This was done for unknown reasons, though it may have had something to do with his personal opposition to the Crimean War and/or the Manton family’s prominent involvement in the production of firearms.
The progenitor of the artistic members of the family was Edward G. Williams’ grandfather, Gildon Manton (1789 – 1851), who was a portrait artist of note who exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy in London between 1818 and 1831. His son Edward Manton (1823 – 1873) was an engraver as were his sons Edward Gildon (above) and Henry (1854 – 1942) who also painted watercolors. A further member of the family, George Grenville Manton (1855 – 1932), was a portrait painter who exhibited both in London and New York.
Upon his arrival in America, Edward Manton (1823 – 1873) initially settled his family in Newport, Rhode Island, before moving them to Morrisania, New York, which is now part of the Borough of the Bronx. It was in this part of the state that Kate Williams was raised in a home on the Boston Road and where she would reside for the remainder of her life.
It is unclear where Kate Williams may have received her initial training in art, though one could surmise it was from her father and uncle. That said, her first profession, that of a public-school teacher in the Bronx, along with a dearth of exhibition records, appears to indicate that she may not originally have intended to be a professional artist. She graduated from the State Normal School located in Manhattan in 1897 and is listed in the federal census in 1900 as a “public school teacher.” By 1915 was listed as having “no occupation,” though it is around this time when she first begins appearing in regional exhibition records.
The first exhibition in which she is known to have shown her work was in the 1913 watercolor exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. At this exhibition, her work “Midsummer Flowers” was among the paintings sold, even though newspapers reported that “fewer works sold” that year than the year prior. This was quickly followed by her inclusion in exhibitions at the New York Water Color Club and in Chicago at the Art Institute of Chicago. From that time until her death, her paintings were consistently exhibited along the eastern half of the United States.
Williams was a regular exhibitor with the Pen and Brush Club and National Arts Club in New York City as well as with the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. At the Bronx Artists Guild exhibit at the National Arts Club in 1923 newspapers noted that “Kate A. Williams and her still life painting, Dahlias… …stand out rather from the rest of the group.” In 1927 she was among the first participants and exhibitors in the newly formed “Cooperative Artists” exhibition held in New York City at the B. Altman & Co. department store. At the 1931 Hudson Valley Art Association exhibition her painting “Mad River Notch” won best in show.
She was among a large group of artists that worked regularly on Long Island, New York, where she traveled out as far as the eastern tip of the North Fork, where she painted a work entitled “Foggy Day, Orient,” which was shown at the 1930 National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors exhibition. She also taught a summer painting sketch class in the former whaling port of Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island between 1937 and 1939.
Kate A. Williams died in Manhattan at St. Luke’s Hospital following a brief illness on the 8th of August 1939 at the age of sixty-one years. At the time of her death, one of her works was hanging in the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors 1939 exhibition. She is buried alongside her parents and other family members in Sycamore plot, section 53, lot 4597, of Woodlawn Cemetery, located in the Bronx, New York.
Once she had fully entered into her artistic career, Williams’ seems to have been very successful, having her works selected for local and regional exhibitions on a steady basis. In addition, her works were regularly selected for inclusion in exhibitions that traveled across the country through the efforts of the National Arts Club, American Federation of Arts and other arts organizations, indicating that they were highly thought of and popular amongst her peers. In addition to those already mentioned, she was also a member of the American Artists Professional League, American Water Color Society and the Washington Water Color Club.
Williams’ work is decidedly impressionist in nature and does not seem to have deviated from that style during her career. Her subjects range from scenes of the Bronx to those depicting the mountains and fishing villages of New England, Maine and Long Island. The family used to summer in both the Adirondacks and the Berkshires, which may also be depicted in her paintings. She was also well-known for her floral still-life works. Her titles are often generic or descriptive as is the case with so many artists, and include examples such as “A Mountain Mist,” “Dahlias,” “Foggy Day, Orient,” “Japanese Fruit Trees,” “Mad River Notch,” “Mid-day,” “Midsummer Flowers,” “Rocky Neck Road, Gloucester” and “Snow of the Roofs.” She signs her works either “Kate Williams” or “Kate A. Williams.”
Though there are undoubtedly other exhibitions in which Williams participated, those presently known include the following: Watercolor Exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 1913; New York Water Color Club, New York, NY, 1916; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 1916, 1918-20; Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY, 1918; American Water Color Society Traveling Exhibition at the Logansport Art Association, Logansport, IN, 1919; Pen and Brush Club, New York, NY, 1919-20; Bronx Artists Guild at the National Arts Club, New York, NY, 1923; Washington Water Color Club, Washington, D.C., 1926, 1929; Cooperative Artists Exhibition, New York, NY, 1927; National Academy of Design, New York, NY, 1927-28, 1931; National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, New York, NY, 1928-39; Woman’s Club Art Exhibition, Newport News, VA, 1930; Argent Galleries, New York, NY, 1931; Hudson Valley Art Association, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, 1931 (prize); National Arts Club Traveling Exhibition at the Arts Club of St. Petersburg, FL, 1931; Scarsdale Woman’s Club Exhibition, Scarsdale, NY, 1933; Everhart Museum of Art, Scranton, PA, 1936; American Federation of Arts Traveling Exhibition (no location, u.d.).
Source: This following biography was researched, compiled, and written by Geoffrey K. Fleming, Executive Director, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV, with the help of John. E. L. Williams, a cousin of Kate A. Williams. (askart.com)
