Lillian Genth

Lillian Mathilde Genth (1876 – March 28, 1953) was an American impressionist artist. She is best known for her depiction of female nudes in landscape settings. However, in the middle of her career she swore off painting female nudes and began painting more conservative paintings inspired by her travels. In about 30 years Genth appeared in 233 exhibitions, and while well renowned for her paintings while alive, her story and artwork have been lost in the retelling of American art history.

Lillian Mathilde Genth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Matilda Caroline Rebscher and Samuel Adam. Genth began her art career by attending the Philadelphia School of Design for Women in Pennsylvania on scholarship. During her schooling years she worked to help support herself as a dress designer. At the Philadelphia School of Design for Women her primary teacher was Elliott Daingerfield. Daingerfield greatly influenced her style, which can be seen in the similar tonalist and coloristic qualities of her landscape scenes. Genth graduated from Philadelphia School of Design for Women in 1900. She received the William L. Elkins European fellowship for attainment in art from the Philadelphia School of Design, which sponsored her to paint in Europe for a year.

During her time in Europe, Genth first settled in Paris, France in October 1900 where she enrolled in art classes at the Academie Carmen, an art school run by James McNeil Whistler. Whistler became a large influence on Genth’s work and she was known to be a favorite pupil of his. During one of Whistler’s visits to the school in 1900, he was so impressed by Genth’s work that he gave her a paint palette; an honor that she used and treasured for the rest of her career. This was an incredible compliment from Whistler, who rarely accepted women painters.

Genth’s style is typically attributed to Whistler because of her paintings' tonalist qualities and because he taught her to see her paintings as a whole instead of in individual parts. After the Academie Carmen closed in 1901, Genth stayed in Europe for three more years. During this time she worked on painting landscapes, genre scenes, and waterfronts; her nudes would not begin for a few more years.

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