Alice Barber Stephens (1854-1932) was an incredibly successful and renowned artist of her time. Stephens was one of the first female artists to benefit from an American art education. She trained at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women as a child before enrolling in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. This is where she met her husband, classmate and fellow artist, Charles Hallowell Stephens. At fifteen years old, Stephens was able to support herself with earnings from her talent.
During her time at PAFA, Stephens studied alongside realist painter, Thomas Eakins. Both practitioners of the realist style, the pair were mutually influential to one another. Eakins encouraged Stephens to learn knew mediums and techniques including oil, watercolors and charcoal (146).
While at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Stephens painted one of her more famous pieces, Female Life Class. The painting is of her dear friend and classmate, Susan McDowell during a class featuring a female nude model. Living nude models were highly contested as a learning tool in female classrooms. Victorian sentiments of modesty and feminine delicacy pervaded public thought, making Stephen’s portrayal of her friend painting a nude model quite courageous. The painting was created irrelevant to colors because it was done with the intent to be printed without color later. Thus, Stephens showcases her talent for manipulating lightness and darkness to create dimension and space. Female Life Class was published in Scribner’s Monthly in the September 1879. At the time of it’s creation, critics noted the stunning likeness of McDowell which Stephens was able to capture.
Female Life Class 1879 Oil on Cardboard 12 X 14 in.
Alice studied art abroad in Paris at the Academie Julian for one year before her marriage to Charles Stephens, Upon return, Alice married Charles and had her son, David Owen Stephens. Motherhood did not deter Stephen’s career as an artist. She received work steadily, earning a healthy income as an illustrator for various print publications. Her work was recognized extensively by the public. She received several offers to teach as well as many prizes and medals for her work. Ultimately her fame outshone her husband’s work.
Stephens artwork was featured in publications including but not limited to Harper’s, Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, Century as well as Little Women. In 1897 she co-founded the oldest art club for women in continuous existence in the U.S., the Plastics Club. Stephens served as vice president of the organization for fifteen years.
Pictured below are the September and May 1987 Cover Illustrations of Scribner’s Monthly, both by Alice Barber Stephens.
The Woman in Business 1897 Oil on Canvas 25 x 18 in.
Women in the Home 1897 Gouache on paper, 25 inches x 17 inches
Where My Ladies At? 