Elizabeth Gardner Bouguereau: The Early Years, Pt. 1

"In the Woods" by
Elizabeth Gardner Bouguereau

"Elizabeth Gardner was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, on October 4, 1837. She was the fourth of five children born to George and Jane Lowell Gardner. At the time of her birth, the Gardners already counted nine generations hailing from Thomas Gardner, the first settler of the name in New England.

Elizabeth attended The Exeter Female Academy where, 'The course of instruction extended over a period of five years, and Latin, Modern languages, instrumental music, designing and landscape drawing, and other accomplishments were taught.' In 1854,  she transferred to Lasell Female Seminary in Auburndale, Massachusetts, which offered more advanced courses in all areas of learning. French, one of the more common foreign languages, would have been spoken at the dining table by the girls who were studying it. 

Drawing, like music, came under the heading of 'Ornamental Studies.' The Drawing and Painting Department was under the direction of Miss M. Imogene Robinson. She had studied for two years in Düsseldorf with Wilhelm Camphausen in the company of other American painters, including Albert Bierstadt, and several of the latter's works were included in her 'large and choice selection of paintings.'

Pencil and crayon drawing, water color, and linear perspective would have made up the standard curriculum. In this respect, American art schools followed the academic tradition of their European counterparts. A great deal of beginning work in art involved copy work, and the studio at the Seminary was filled with pictures and statuary which served this purpose. Elizabeth wrote later that through this 'I wakened to a realization that the foundation of good painting is correct drawing.'

Elizabeth and Imogene became life-long friends, and when Imogene opened the Worcester School of Design and Academy of Fine Arts in 1856, we find Elizabeth referred to as both the Associate Principal and the Head of the English Department. Certainly these were busy years that must have greatly affected her artistic output for there are only two known works by her thought to be from this early period."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Elizabeth Jane Gardner: Her Life, Her Work, Her Letters," MA Thesis by Charles Pearo, McGill University, 1997)