On October 14, 2021, local filmmaker and Dennison University grad Kurt Vincent along with Irene Kim Chin premiered ‘Cactus Tree’ at the Columbus Museum of Art, a critical reappraisal of twentieth century Columbus painter Alice Schille.
The film is about the widely acclaimed watercolorist who traveled the world and painted in the early 1900s while teaching art in Columbus, Ohio.
Then she fell into near obscurity.
Through its incredible craftsmanship – the 30-minute film also showcases the beautiful relationship between art lovers Jim and daughter Tara Keny and their shared passion for bringing light to such a deserving artist.
Alice Schille is considered one of the most influential American watercolorists of the twentieth century.
Alice earned top prizes in San Francisco, New York, Washington and Chicago. In 1904, five of Alice’s paintings were accepted into the Paris Salon, a significant accomplishment that brought her international recognition.
She was the third of six children born into a prosperous family in Columbus, Ohio in 1869. By the time she was six she was determined to be an artist.
After graduating from Central High School at the top of her class in 1887, Alice attended the Columbus Arts School (founded in the 1870s by women for women, which later became CCAD) from 1891 to 1893.
She decided to leave for NYC in 1897 and enrolled at the Arts Students League for two years and then the New York School for Art with William Merritt Chase and Kenyon Cox.
Schille traveled Europe – Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Egypt, Morocco – and sold a good number of her paintings, but it was not enough to support herself. Her love of teaching and her relationship with her mother drew her back to Columbus.
Alice returned in 1902 to teach at Columbus Arts School. And she would travel each summer to paint. Her work evolved and was influenced by her travels. She introduced her students and the Midwest to European modernist styles. She also escorted her students on field trips outside of Columbus, introducing them to connections she had made including artists and curators.
In 1903 and 1904 she studied privately in Paris and met a young man named Samuel S. White III. He too, was studying in Paris and was modeling for a bronze statue – The Athlete – at the time. It is believed Alice declined Samuel’s marriage proposal. Samuel later married and he & his wife Vera would remain among Alice’s closest friends for the rest of her life.
Alice would never marry.
She often traveled alone. Her favorite subjects were the French in their normal day-to-day activities. “France matured Schille as an artist” according to local gallery owner Jim Keny. Alice’s subjects also were beach and harbor scenes, landscapes and city marketplaces.
Alice was embraced by Columbus. More than two hundred articles chronicled her accomplishments both here and abroad. She supplemented her teaching income by creating portraits for Columbus’ upper echelon.
She became fluent in French and began visiting the ‘White Cat’, an artsy hang out in Paris. In 1907 she met writer Gertrude Stein decades before she became famous.
‘Mother & Child in a Garden’, one of her masterpieces was painted in 1911 in France. Her career soon took off and her work influenced the American Watercolor Movement.
She travelled every summer when school let out. A 1919 trip to New Mexico was significant. New Mexico has monsoon season in late July. She painted the Ranchos de Taos Church, one of her favorite subjects. This piece was critically acclaimed. In ‘Cactus Tree’ it was praised for its soul and spiritual presence.
In 1934, Gertrude Stein and her partner Alice B. Toklas visited Alice in Columbus. Together the three visited the popular Maramor Restaurant downtown. Stein had just released her quasi-memoir and bestseller ‘The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas’ the year before which had vaulted her into the mainstream. She was impressed with the Maramor being female owned & operated. She called the cooking “beyond compare.”
Schille retired in 1948 at the age of 79.
She died in 1955.
The Columbus Museum of Art featured more than fifty of Alice Schille’s works in the summer of 2019. The exhibit honored the artist’s 150th birthday and was guest curated by Jim and Tara Keny.
‘Cactus Tree’, after its premier at the CMA, ran locally on WOSU on Nov 12, 2021. The film received a grant from the Columbus Foundation.
Brothers Jim and Tim Keny own and operate the Keny Galleries in German Village. They have represented the Alice Schille estate for over thirty five years.
Tara Reilly (formerly Keny) now resides in Italy and works as a translator for the Easton Foundation, dedicated to the work of French-born artist Louise Bourgeois.
Alice Schille’s work is part of the permanent collection of the Columbus Museum of Art along with multiple other museums including Canton, El Paso, San Francisco, Atlanta, Indianapolis, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, the Ohio State University, Philadelphia, Schumacher Gallery at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, Springfield, Ohio and Zanesville, Ohio.
Alice Schille’s work was included in the inaugural exhibit of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C. in 1987.
Sources: Lost Restaurants of Columbus Ohio by Doug Motz and Christine Hayes, 2015; ‘Cactus Tree’ documentary by Kurt Vincent and Irene Kim Chin, WOSU-TV, Nov 12, 2021, pbs.org; Columbus painter Alice Schille’s story told in new documentary, ‘Cactus Tree’, by Peter Tonguette, Columbus Dispatch, Oct 10, 2021; ‘In a new light: Alice Schille and the American Watercolor Movement’, columbusmuseum.org; ‘Groundbreaking Watercolorist Alice Schille’ columbusmuseum.org; Alice Schille, Nedra Matteucci Galleries, www.matteucci.com; Alice Schille, Historic American Painting and Works on Paper, Keny Galleries, German Village, kenygalleries.com; Alice Schille, Columbus, 19th – 20th Century, Mary Ran Gallery, Cincinnati, maryrangallery.com; ‘The French Experience: Alice Schille’s Artistic Legacy’ by James M Keny, Traditional Fine Arts Organization, tfaoi.org; Kurt Vincent, director, redfordcenter.org; ‘Alice Schille – American (1869 – 1955)’, artforeverybody.com; Featured picture courtesy of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.