Gertrude Partington Albright

She was born Gertrude Partington in Heysham, a coastal village in England.[1] Her father was John Herbert Evelyn Partington (1843–99), a painter, and her mother was Sarah (Mottershead) Partington.[2] Four of her six siblings also had careers in the arts, notably Blanche, who became a writer; Phyllis, who became an opera singer under the stage name Frances Peralta; John, who became a theater manager; and Richard, who became an artist.[2]

Her family emigrated to the United States in 1889, settling in Oakland, California.[2]

In 1917, she married Herman Oliver Albright (born Herman Oliver Albrecht in Germany; 1876-1944), also a landscape painter.[1][3]

She died in San Francisco.[3] Her papers are held by the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.

She got her early training in art from her father[3] and was only 16 when she sold her first artwork.[2] For a time she worked as an illustrator for the San Francisco Examiner, contributing courtroom sketches and society portraits.[2] She eventually earned enough money as an illustrator to afford a trip to Europe for further art training, enrolling at the Académie Delécluse in the late 1890s.[3] By 1903, she was exhibiting at the Paris Salon.[2]

Albright stayed abroad for several years, making occasional return trips to California.[2] When she returned to the Bay Area for good in 1912, she opened a painting and printmaking studio on Post Street.[2][3] An established artist by then, she joined the faculty at the California School of Fine Arts in 1917, teaching painting and etching.[2] She was promoted to associate professor in 1932[2] and remained at the school until she retired in 1946.[3][4] Her students there included Victor Arnautoff.[4] She also sat on the school's board of directors.[5]

Albright was often commissioned to make portraits, and her portrait etchings drew praise for their skillful likenesses and clear, minimal lines.[2] She is also known for her Cubism-inflected Post-Impressionist landscapes done in oil on wood.[1] Critics noted the strong influence of Paul Cézanne on her paintings but considered that her work succeeded on its own merits.[6][7] She exhibited widely, winning a bronze medal for one of her portraits at the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition.[2][3][8] Her work is in the collections of museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Oakland Museum, and the De Young Museum.[3]

She was active in Bay Area art organizations, becoming a charter member of the California Society of Etchers and the director of the San Francisco Society of Women Artists and serving on many prize juries.[2][3]