Helen Chain

Helen Henderson Chain (July 31, 1849 – October 10, 1892) was an American artist and mountaineer. The majority of her work focused on landscapes in the American West. She has been called the first resident female artist in Colorado.

Early life Helen Henderson was born to George Henry Porter and Sarah Maria (Bacon) Henderson in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1849. The family moved to Antioch, California, when Helen was young. When Helen's mother died in 1862, she moved back to Indianapolis to reside with an aunt. Helen stayed in the Midwest through her formal education, attending Methodist College and graduating from Illinois Female College (present-day MacMurry College) in 1869. She received some formal art training as a part of her education. She married James Albert Chain in 1871, and the couple moved to Colorado.

Life in Colorado

In Denver, James Chain established a book and stationery store that also sold art supplies. Helen used part of the space as her studio and also taught art students, including famous Rocky Mountain landscape painter Charles Partridge Adams. Margaret Tobin Brown owned one of her works, which can be seen at the Molly Brown House Museum today.

Chain was also noted for being a humanitarian. After anti-Chinese riots in Denver in 1880, she began to use the storefront of the Chains' bookstore to teach English to Chinese immigrants.

Death The Chains embarked on a global tour in March 1892. While in Japan, Chain sent home art in Japanese style back to the Denver Fortnightly Club. On October 10, 1892, they were crossing the South China Sea between Shanghai and Hong Kong when their steamship sank during a typhoon. The Chains both drowned, along with the other passengers on board their ship, SS Bokhara.

Works

Select paintings The following paintings are listed in Kovinick and Yoshiki-Kovinick:

Burros on the Trail Pikes Peak Twin Lakes near Leadville Royal Gorge on the Arkansas River Sierra Blanca Source of the Platte Rapid Transit New Mexico Struck It Rich Camping in the Rocky Mountains Santa Clara Plaza Pueblo de Taos Morning in the Pueblo Indian Village Mount of the Holy Cross (1879)

Other works

Snow-Shoe Itinerant by John L. Dyer (1891), (illustrator)

Exhibitions

Source:

National Mining Exhibition (1883) - Denver, CO National Academy of Design (1882) - New York City, NY Denver Paint and Clay Show (1889) - Denver, CO Denver Art League (1892) - Denver, CO Minneapolis Industrial Exposition (1892) - Minneapolis, MN