Journey to a transformative period in American art and celebrate the talent, resilience and impact of artists who were often overlooked in “Susan Watkins and Women Artists of the Progressive Era,” on view October 17, 2025 through January 11, 2026, at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, VA. Organized by the Chrysler Museum of Art, the exhibition features approximately 75 works by more than 20 artists, including Susan Watkins, Lilla Cabot Perry, Minerva Chapman and Anna Elizabeth Klumpke.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Susan Watkins’ birth, and her remarkable achievements anchor the exhibition. Watkins (1875-1913) exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon and earned praise from American art press, both uncommon for women artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her career was steeped in the values of her time yet defined by her distinctly personal vision. Though the American painter’s life ended prematurely at age 38, her story offers a compelling window into the social and professional context of the transatlantic artistic world that shaped her and her contemporaries.
“‘Susan Watkins and Women Artists of the Progressive Era’ provides a fresh perspective on a transformative moment in American art history,” Corey Piper, Ph.D., the Chrysler Museum’s Brock curator of American art, said. “This exhibition highlights the innovation and determination of Watkins and her peers, who forged remarkable careers despite the barriers they faced. By showcasing their work, we hope to inspire a deeper understanding of their impact and to broaden the narrative of American art to include these long-overlooked contributions.”
“Raphaël Collin and His Female Students in His Atelier, Paris” (ca. 1899) greatly influenced the trajectory of the exhibition. The albumen print held in the Chrysler Museum’s collection depicts Watkins with other women artists who sought professional studies during a time when many prestigious art institutions in Paris denied women admission, charged them higher tuition or restricted them to all-female classes. In the image of approximately three dozen students, only Watkins, French painter Madeleine Smith and the instructor have been identified. The other women pictured remain unknown.
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Image caption: Susan Watkins (American, 1875-1913), “View at Versailles,” 1908, Oil on board. Chrysler Museum of Art, bequest of Goldsborough Serpell, 46.76.165