Georgia Timken Fry
Birth Date: 1864
Death Date: 1921
Artist Gallery
Born in 1864, daughter of the founder of the industrial powerhouse the Timken Company (founded in 1899), Georgia Timken Fry received her early education at Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri — a leading college for the higher education of women. After graduation she attended the School of Fine Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. At Washington University, Timken Fry studied life drawing under John Hemming Fry, an artist who had just returned from studying in Paris. These fundamental skills in draughtsmanship would lend themselves to Timken Fry’s future paintings of figures, and she began to gain recognition for her talent in painting. The relationship between Georgia and John would end up expanding beyond the classroom, and in 1891, they were married. Sometime after, they adopted a daughter, Fredericka (1910 - 1948), named after Georgia’s mother. The couple settled in New York, where Timken Fry attended the New York School of Fine Art while also making several trips to Paris. In New York, Timken Fry was active as a member of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, the Society of New York Artists, and the Society of Women Artists. She was exhibiting her works regularly in New York at this time as well. While in Paris, Timken Fry continued her studies with August F. A. Schenck, an artist whose subject matter revolved around animals as stand-ins for human emotions. Animals were a recurring subject of interest for Timken Fry as well, especially sheep. In contrast to Schenck’s work however, Timken Fry depicted animals in a serene and naturalistic manner, focusing on their physical form and presence within their environment, rather than imbuing them with anthropomorphic emotions. Her sheep paintings centered on outdoor pastoral surroundings, with the sheep usually being shepherded or sheared. She also painted picturesque landscapes of the French countryside and the everyday lives of the people who worked in them. Her oil painting Harvest in Normandy, of a woman sitting in the grass after an arduous day of wheat harvesting, was accepted into the Paris Salon in 1885. The Salon was the most prestigious and infamous annual art exhibition in France, and Harvest in Normandy was Timken Fry’s first acceptance into it. From then on, year after year, her work would make an appearance at the Salon, a testament to her skill as an artist. It is an even greater feat considering that only 19% of women on average were accepted during this time period (1848-1900), with most rejected based on their gender and fierce competition in the medium of painting. Timken Fry’s other teachers in Paris included artists Aimé Morot, another painter of animals, and Georges Gardet, one of the most talented animal sculptors of his time. Timken Fry’s interest and skill in modeling animals was apparent, and in 1913 her bronze sculpture of a lion made it into the Paris Salon. Although her artistic talent extended to bronze, surviving works indicate that oil painting was Georgia Timken Fry's primary medium. This was a bold choice for a woman artist at the time, as women were generally expected to focus on watercolor paintings of florals and still lifes. Fry's decision to embrace oil painting and explore a wider range of subjects challenged these norms. In 1916, Timken Fry, along with her artist husband John Hemming Fry and painter Lawton S. Parker, founded Rodin Studios, a cooperative apartment building providing housing and studio space for artists. Designed by architect Cas Gilbert and built in New York, Timken Fry and her husband moved into an apartment on the top floor and used four of the studio spaces. Their apartment was packed with paintings and sculpture. Timken Fry was well-traveled throughout her life, making her way through places such as Egypt and Italy, finding inspiration from the world around her. Egypt especially spoke to her, and she painted its ruins, pyramids, and temples. Her painting The Ramesseum, depicting the funerary temple of Pharaoh Ramses II, was chosen for the cover of The Art World magazine in 1918. An article about her accompanied her work on the cover, in which she was called “one of the strongest female painters in the country.” When her father retired and moved to San Diego, Timken Fry found new inspiration for her work in this new locale, as well as neighboring states, especially Arizona with its Grand Canyon. These works of the vast, layered rock formations found exposure in Maine at the Poland Art Gallery’s annual exhibition. In 1921, Timken Fry took an extended tour of China and Japan to find inspiration for her work, sketching along the way. She took the trip with fellow artist Helen Watson Phelps, as was the custom at the time, when it was frowned upon for women to travel alone. Watson Phelps was an award winning artist who, like Timken Fry, had work accepted into the Paris Salon. Both women painted in oil and fostered a dynamic of shared inspiration. Phelps even painted multiple portraits of Timken Fry which were given to her husband and daughter. Unfortunately, during this trip, Timken Fry contracted the bubonic plague, which had made a resurgence in China around this time. She passed away, and Phelps brought Timken Fry’s ashes back to the United States. A collection of Timken Fry’s paintings were donated to the National Gallery of Art by the Timken family, and can also be found at the Canton Museum of Art, located in the Timken Company’s hometown, but outside of this her work is scarce. Her legacy lives on through her art, reminding us of the beauty in the world around us.