Agnes Tait

Agnes Tait (June 14, 1894 – August 23, 1981) was an American painter, pen-and-ink artist, lithographer, book illustrator, muralist and dancer.

Early life Born in Greenwich Village in New York City, Agnes Tait was the second and last child of Anita Innocentia McCarthy and John C. Tait. Her mother was of Irish Catholic descent and travelled to New York from Cuba. Her father emigrated to America from Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, and owned a small roofing business. After graduating from grammar school, Tait secretly applied to the National Academy of Design much to her parents' surprise, who were happy at the prospect of a free tuition. She completed the mandatory antique drawing class from 1908 to 1910 and the life painting class from 1910 to 1916. During her studies she earned multiple awards for her work, including the Hollgarten prizes for painting ($10) and composition ($30), a prize for pastel drawing ($10) as well as the Suydam bronze medal for life drawing. Her determination to succeed in her artistic endeavors prompted her to study in Paris. In 1927, Tait spent several weeks in a studio in Paris, where she completed a lithography course at the École des Beaux-Arts, before returning to New York City to rent her own studio in King Street in Lower Manhattan. Confident in her talent as an artist, she contacted Valentine Dudensing of the Dudensing Gallery, who asked her to "come in with her portfolio." Her painting Melancholia was featured in a review in the New York Times, which noted the influence of the esthetic ideas of the Pre-Raphaelite school on her work.

New Mexico Her husband's declining health prompted the couple to relocate to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1941, where Agnes discovered the Fine Arts Museum and added Southwestern landscape painting to her repertoire. In 1943, Tait's lithograph El Cristo Rey was chosen for the First National Exhibition of Prints at the Library of Congress. Her lithograph Survivors was also selected for the print exhibition "America in the War, the Artists for Victory." Motivated by these successes, she arranged one-woman shows in New York and Santa Fe. In 1945, the Fine Art Museum of New Mexico organized an exhibition of Tait's work, which travelled to several southwestern cities. During this time, her sister and husband developed health complications that preoccupied Tait, who found solace in painting cats. Despite the hardships, she continued to take commissions for portraits and murals, and after 22 years in Santa Fe Tait set out to find a new home. This was in part a result of her disappointment in being relegated to the status of "New Mexico Artist". Tait once said "If people want to think of me as a Santa Fe artist, well--let them think anything they want." After spending time in Italy, Ireland, and Florida, she returned to Santa Fe to live out the rest of her life until her death in 1981.

Public Collections Library of Congress Metropolitan Museum of Art New York Public Library