Dorothy Grafly

Dorothy Grafly
Born29 July 1896 Edit this on Wikidata
Died13 November 1980 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 84)
Alma mater
OccupationJournalist, art critic Edit this on Wikidata
Parent(s)

Dorothy Grafly (later Drummond) (July 29, 1896 – November 13, 1980) was an American journalist, art critic, author, curator and philanthropist. Grafly wrote extensively for a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, and was described in Time magazine as "the ablest art critic in the city" of Philadelphia.[1] Her book A History of the Philadelphia Print Club appeared in 1929.[2][3] She served as the editor of Art Outlook (1943–1949) and the publisher and editor of Art in Focus (1949–1980).[4][5]

From 1932 to 1945, Grafly was curator at the Drexel Museum and Picture Gallery.[6] In 1996, her biographical memoir of her father, sculptor Charles Grafly, was published along with an exhibition catalog, The sculptor's clay: Charles Grafly, 1862–1929, celebrating his studio collection which Grafly and her husband had donated to the Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University.[7][8]

Early life and education

Artist and teacher Charles Grafly and his wife Frances Sekeles were married on June 7, 1895. Their daughter Dorothy Grafly was born[9][10] on July 29, 1896, in Paris, France,[11] where the family was visiting. Dorothy grew up at the family's home at 2140 N. 12th Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. Her father had a studio at 2200 Arch Street[12] and taught at Drexel University and later Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA).[13]

Dorothy Grafly graduated from Wellesley College in 1918, at which time her address was given as 131 N. 20th St., Philadelphia, Pa.[14] Her poetry was included in the collection Poets of the Future. [15] She was a student of Radcliffe College at Harvard University in 1918–1919.[16]

Career

Grafly wrote widely for newspapers and magazines[11] including the Philadelphia Public Ledger[9] The Philadelphia Inquirer,[17][18][19] The American Magazine of Art;[20] and Art and archaeology.[21] She was an art critic for The Philadelphia Bulletin;[22] art editor of the North American[23] and special correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor.[24]

In 1932, Grafly was appointed curator at the Drexel Museum and Picture Gallery, where she remained until 1945. She was active in developing both outreach and educational programs.[6] She served on the Advisory Art Committee at Drexel.[25] On August 9, 1946, she married attorney Charles H. Drummond.[11][26]

Grafly served as editor of Art Outlook from 1943 to 1949, a publication of Philip Ragan Associates. She was the publisher and editor of the monthly publication Art in Focus from 1949 to 1980.[4][5]

In 1971, Grafly and her husband donated the contents of Charles Grafly's studio to Wichita State University.[26] The Charles Drummond and Dorothy Grafly Drummond Fund supports the Ulrich Museum and the Grafly Gardens at Wichita State, where the sculptural works of Charles Grafly are presented.[27]

Archival collections

References

  1. ^ "Art: In Philadelphia". Time. 14 February 1938.
  2. ^ "The Print Club" (PDF). Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  3. ^ Grafly, Dorothy (1929). A History of the Philadelphia Print Club. Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Print Club. Illustrated by E. H. Suydam
  4. ^ a b "Art in focus, 1949–1980". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b 158th Annual Report for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts · PAFA Digital Archives · PAFA's Digital Archives. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. February 3, 1964. p. 24.
  6. ^ a b "Museum records – Philadelphia Area Archives". findingaids.library.upenn.edu.
  7. ^ "Charles Grafly unpublished manuscript MS.016 Finding Aid prepared by Hoang Tran" (PDF). The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Dorothy and Kenneth Woodcock Archives. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  8. ^ Knaub, Donald E.; Simpson, Pamela Hemenway (1996). The sculptor's clay: Charles Grafly (1862–1929); exhibition February 8 – April 7, 1996. Wichita, Kansas: Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University. ISBN 9781887883009.
  9. ^ a b "Grafly". Arts Digest. Mid–May. Art Digest Incorporated: 11. 1929.
  10. ^ "Obituary for Charles Grafly part 1". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 6 May 1929. p. 1.
  11. ^ a b c The World Who's who of Women. Melrose Press. 1976. ISBN 978-0-900332-40-1.
  12. ^ Leonard, John William (1908). Men of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries. L.R. Hamersly. pp. 1016–1017.
  13. ^ "Archives". Philadelphia Sketch Club.
  14. ^ Members of class of 1918 (PDF). The Wellesley Legenda. 1918. pp. 229, 234.
  15. ^ "Wellesley poets well represented". The Wellesley College News. March 13, 1919. p. 3.
  16. ^ "Drummond, Mrs. Charles H. (Dorothy Grafly) 'G (18–19)". Harvard Library, Harvard University.
  17. ^ Wolfe, Ross; DeLong, Lea Rosson (2016). The Samstag legacy: an artist's bequest (PDF). Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art, University of South Australia. ISBN 978-0994335081.
  18. ^ Krause, Martin; Witkowski, Linda (September 28, 2009). "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs: An Art in Its Making; article by Martin Krause and Linda Witkowski". Resource Library.
  19. ^ Holian, Heather (1 March 2024). ""Two Cadaverous Vultures": Disney's Gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York". Fantasy/Animation. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  20. ^ Finkel, Ken (June 1, 2021). "Did the Samuel Memorial Deliver?". The Philly History Blog.
  21. ^ "Grafly, Dorothy. "Events and portents of fifty years." Art and archaeology 21 (April/May 1926). Photocopied excerpt, undated | Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives". pmalibrary.libraryhost.com.
  22. ^ Grafly, Dorothy (May 28, 1967). "Artist's Suicide Gives. Tragic Overtone to Exhibit" (PDF). Bulletin.
  23. ^ "Miss Grafly Slams 'Underworld of art'" (PDF). The Art News. Vol. 22, no. 37. June 21, 1924. p. 1. JSTOR 25591432. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  24. ^ White, Theo B. (30 January 2017). The Philadelphia Art Alliance: Fifty Years, 1915–1965. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-5128-1933-5.
  25. ^ "PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWN AT DREXEL". Philadelphia Art News. Vol. 1, no. 12. TAPAS Project. April 11, 1938.
  26. ^ a b Tolles, Thayer; Dimmick, Lauretta (1999). American Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 1. New York, N.Y.: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 403. ISBN 978-0-87099-914-7.
  27. ^ "Charles Drummond and Dorothy Grafly Drummond Fund". Wichita State Foundation.