Hilda Belcher

Born in 1881 in Vermont, Hilda Belcher was an American realist painter and was part of the
Ashcan school founded by Robert Henri. She lived in Vermont until her teenage years,
when her family decided to move to New Jersey, and after graduating from Newark High
School she decided to go to New York to attend the New York School of Art, where she met
important figures of the modernist movement, especially Robert Henri, who she considered
her mentor1. Like many other members of the Ashcan School, she started her career as an
illustrator and years later turned to painting.
After her father died in 1906 she lived with her mother, with whom she travelled several
times to Europe. During this period of time she began to paint in watercolors, and in 1907
she became a member of the New York Water Color Club. She became famous after she
won the Strathmore watercolor competition in 1908, especially because she was the only
woman participating among 700 competitors. After this, her work began to be exhibited in
many cities (New York, Chicago, San Francisco, etc.).
Some of her most famous works are portraits, which she painted in Savannah, Georgia as
commissions; however, she also painted works that were not commissions, such as
landscapes and several portraits of African Americans in every-day situations. These scenes
in Savannah fascinated her, and later her paintings were exhibited at the Telfair Museum of
Art. In 1939 she visited Mexico, where she painted many watercolors of the natural
landscapes, the architecture and people of the place.2
Belcher also worked as a teacher for some years, apart from becoming famous for her
caricatures in magazines like Town and Country. She won several prizes during her life and
died on April, 1963. Her portraits are described as revealing exquisite sensitivity, as well
as a cheeky, if kindhearted, satirist.3 As part of the Ashcan school, her aim was to depict

1 Towers Klacsmann, Karen. Hilda Belcher (1881-1963).

2 Anonymous. Hilda Belcher: paintings, drawings & watercolors Martha
Richardson Fine Art.

real life, which she achieved especially during the second half of her career as a painter, but
unlike most of the other members, she did not paint life in one of the big cities.
Bibliography
Anonymous. Hilda Belcher: paintings, drawings & watercolorsMartha Richardson
Fine Art: http://martharichardsonfineart.com/hilda-belcher-paintings-drawingswatercolors/

McQuaid Cate, Watercolors with a keen and humane eye. The Boston Globe.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-art/2013/05/07/hilda-belcher-ashcan-school-watercolorswith-keen-yet-humane-eye/K3X2qL1p7QtX4gklOOFmtN/story.html

Towers Klacsmann, Karen. Hilda Belcher (1881-1963).

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/hilda-belcher-1881-1963

Paintings
Online

Hilda

Belcher

exhibition

at

Martha

Richardson

Fine

http://martharichardsonfineart.com/exhibition/

3 McQuaid Cate, Watercolors with a keen and humane eye. The Boston
Globe.

Art.