fbpx Chrysler Logo
Search
Search
Moses Myers House

323 E. Freemason St.
Open Saturday and Sunday

Noon–5 p.m.

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Reading Room
Wednesday-Friday
10 a.m.–5 p.m.

About the Myers House

The oldest Jewish home in America open to the public as a museum offers a glimpse of the life of an early 19th century merchant family.
More about the house

About the Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Art Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

Located in Norfolk

One Memorial Place,
Norfolk, VA
Get Directions

While You're Here

Visit our Museum Shop
and Zinnia Cafe.

Perry Glass Studio

A state-of-art facility on the Museum’s campus. See a free glassmaking demo Tuesdays–Sunday at noon. Like what you see? Take a class with us! More about the Studio

The Myers House

The home of the first permanent Jewish residents of Norfolk, this historic house offers a glimpse of the life of a wealthy early 19th-century merchant family.
More about the house

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the Library

Wedding & Event Rentals

The perfect place for your big day or special event. Get the details

In-person Tours

Group tours are available for groups of 20 or fewer. More about tours

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Visit one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

About the Chrysler

Our story spans well over 100 years. See where we began, how we grew, and where we're going. Explore our history

News and Announcements

See what's happening at the Museum, read Chrysler Magazine, and find our Media Center. Read now

Location

One Memorial Place
Norfolk, VA 23510

Location

745 Duke Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-333-6299

Always Free Parking

Get Directions

Visiting Artist Series

Bringing the world’s top glass art talent to Hampton Roads
Find out more

Studio Team

Meet the brilliant minds behind the Studio.
See the team

Give the Chrysler Experience

Share everything you love about the Chrysler Museum with a gift membership. Perfect for everyone on your list.

The Masterpiece Society

Learn about this innovative group of museum supporters.
Meet the Masterpiece Society

Planned Giving

Help ensure the long-term success of the Museum.
Learn about planned giving

Moses Myers House

323 E. Freemason St.
Open Saturday and Sunday

Noon–5 p.m.

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Reading Room
Wednesday-Friday
10 a.m.–5 p.m.

About the Myers House

The oldest Jewish home in America open to the public as a museum offers a glimpse of the life of an early 19th century merchant family.
More about the house

About the Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Art Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

Located in Norfolk

One Memorial Place,
Norfolk, VA
Get Directions

While You're Here

Visit our Museum Shop
and Zinnia Cafe.

Perry Glass Studio

A state-of-art facility on the Museum’s campus. See a free glassmaking demo Tuesdays–Sunday at noon. Like what you see? Take a class with us! More about the Studio

The Myers House

The home of the first permanent Jewish residents of Norfolk, this historic house offers a glimpse of the life of a wealthy early 19th-century merchant family.
More about the house

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the Library

Wedding & Event Rentals

The perfect place for your big day or special event. Get the details

In-person Tours

Group tours are available for groups of 20 or fewer. More about tours

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Visit one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

About the Chrysler

Our story spans well over 100 years. See where we began, how we grew, and where we're going. Explore our history

News and Announcements

See what's happening at the Museum, read Chrysler Magazine, and find our Media Center. Read now

Location

One Memorial Place
Norfolk, VA 23510

Location

745 Duke Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-333-6299

Always Free Parking

Get Directions

Visiting Artist Series

Bringing the world’s top glass art talent to Hampton Roads
Find out more

Studio Team

Meet the brilliant minds behind the Studio.
See the team

Give the Chrysler Experience

Share everything you love about the Chrysler Museum with a gift membership. Perfect for everyone on your list.

The Masterpiece Society

Learn about this innovative group of museum supporters.
Meet the Masterpiece Society

Planned Giving

Help ensure the long-term success of the Museum.
Learn about planned giving

Close
Sign up for emails from the Chrysler Museum of Art

Join Our Email List

Sign Up
May 7, 2020

Susan Watkins: The Hidden Woman

American Impressionist Gallery, Gallery 218

As docents, we have the privilege of coming to know the Chrysler Museum’s artworks personally—not only through study and introducing them to visitors but also in the times of quiet wonder between tours when galleries empty and we can simply be with the art. Surrounded by so many works, all sorts of cultural and historic references rush into our minds. A feeling that we know the artists personally can’t be ignored. Cézanne stood right where I’m standing and painted this canvas? Wow! And that’s a work by Bouguereau himself? And a Georgia O’Keeffe? A Kehinde Wiley right here? With me? In those moments, each gaze prompts a new discovery or revelation. And yes, even a crush on favorites.

My crush is on a California-born, New-York-City-bred, gifted, and ambitious young woman: Susan Watkins (1875–1913). Although she lived well before my time, I feel I’ve met her. Our introduction to one another came through her work. It graces the gallery walls at the Chrysler, and much more of it hides away safely in the Museum’s collection storage. It’s the bulk of her life’s work, gifted by a man who knew that one day someone would want to understand the woman he loved.

Portrait of Susan Watkins, ca. 1900, Albumen print, Bequest of Goldsborough Serpell, 46.76.178

It’s possible Susan was robbed of the acclaim she deserved as an artist simply by being a woman. She exhibited internationally, won noteworthy awards during her lifetime, and was highly regarded as a portraitist. Yet, society often looked unkindly upon women of her social standing—upper middle class—who seriously considered a career. During her lifetime, women could not vote. For many, marriage was a woman’s ultimate success. To wiggle around that, many women artists like Susan strung suitors along for years or simply decided not to marry. It took great strength for them to pursue their work when society limited the places and subjects they could paint. They suffered criticism and scorn frequently. No woman would have dreamed of sitting in dance halls like Toulouse-Lautrec and sketching women kicking their legs in the air. Respectable women painters stuck to subjects like gardens, home interiors, and mothers and children—things they lived with. Only extremely confident artists like Mary Cassatt beat those odds.

Susan Watkins (American, 1875–1913), Untitled (View of the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris), ca. 1908, Oil on board, Goldsborough Serpell Bequest, 46.76.171

Confidence takes many forms, though, and I think Susan had plenty. She did not allow her time period to hamper her growth as an academic painter or restrict her ability to develop a virtuoso’s looser brushwork. If she had lived through both world wars, which changed the way artists across the world depicted life, she might have changed her own realist style. But time wasn’t on her side. She put down her brush and married the man she loved when she became too ill to paint.

In the quiet times I spend with her art, I wish she’d show up for a chat. But in truth, her artwork is her voice. Her paintings speak from the Chrysler’s walls. It’s evident that painting brought her joy. The beauty of Marguerite (1906) can’t be denied. It always evokes sighs from Chrysler visitors. The 1830s Girl (Portrait of Miss M.P.), an evocative costume piece, solidified Susan’s reputation in traditional Parisian and international art circles—not bad for a budding young artist. It also won a third-class gold medal at the 1901 Salon and a silver at the 1904 Universal Exposition in Saint Louis, Missouri. Susan was “on the map” during her lifetime.

Susan Watkins (American, 1875–1913), The 1830 Girl (Portrait of Miss M.P. in Louis Philippe Costume), 1900, Oil on canvas, Goldsborough Serpell Bequest, 46.76.147

Susan Watkins (American, 1875–1913), Lady in Yellow (Eleanor Reeves), 1902, Oil on canvas, Bequest of Goldsborough Serpell, 46.76.137

She painted Lady in Yellow (Eleanor Reeves), a portrait of her Navy-wife sister, in 1902. Imagine sisters staring at each other long enough for Susan to paint this parlor piece. A “male gaze” painting this is not. It’s more about a shared joke or an irritated sister who’s sat too long. The work was created four years before the San Francisco earthquake. At the time of the earthquake, Susan was living in Paris and was likely distressed over reports of her hometown’s devastation. She received updates from her brother, a San Francisco physician, and his wife, a trained physician who was no longer practicing because she chose marriage. The quake did not devastate Susan’s personal holdings as it did so many others. She could always afford herself, painting or not.

Susan Watkins (American, 1875–1913), Untitled (View of the Seine and Notre Dame from the Quai de la Tournelle, Paris), ca. 1908 Oil on board Goldsborough Serpell Bequest, 46.76.141

Susan painted through various art movements. Living in Paris across two seminal decades, she would have been aware of swiftly changing styles and vogues, but it doesn’t appear that she wanted to upturn or challenge the official art world—intentions that drive so many artists. I believe she developed a crystal clear intention regarding her work, which mirrored her personality to paint with honesty, control, and subtle feeling, and to perfect the craft.

Thankfully, Susan’s voice—not much of it but enough—exists in print. She gave the New York Times an interview in 1910, three years before her untimely death to cancer. She simply suggested that a career “is a tremendously fine thing to accomplish. Money, social honors, a brilliant marriage are all very well…, but to work out things with one’s hands and brains gives the most lasting and most perfect happiness.”

Susan Watkins (American, 1875–1913) Marguerite, ca. 1906, Oil on canvas, Bequest of Goldsborough Serpell, 46.76.146

Who was Susan Watkins? The real answer died with her. She was just another woman among many painting in fin de siècle Paris. Or was she? Look at her work. Maybe her time period stood in the way of the fame we wish she’d won. But her paintings are proof of huge personal success. Her hand is still with us. Evidence of her artistic choices, her sensibilities, her muses, and her skill live on. Susan was a person who faced limited time but had the great fortune to discover her passion early and practice it all her life. Perhaps, that’s exactly what she wanted—and enough.

– Alva Moore, Docent, Chrysler Museum of Art