Women in the 19C United States of America: The Decorative Gardens of American Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939)

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

The Decorative Gardens of American Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939)

After weeks of very hot weather, a cooling rain is falling here this morning. The grandchildren are gathering school supplies & getting ready to return to the classroom. I can feel a hint of fall in the air; so perhaps I should post these gardens for you, before autumn sets in.

Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874–1939) was an American Impressionist decorative painter. He was born in Owosso, Michigan & studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago & the Académie Julian in Paris. Frieseke & his family resided for 14 years in Giverny, home to Monet. Frieseke was attracted to women, gardens, & bright sunlight.

Frederick Frieseke (1874-1939) Lady in the Garden

Frederick Frieseke (1874-1939) Lilies

Frederick Frieseke (1874-1939) Sewing in the Garden

Frederick Frieseke (1874-1939) The Green Chair

Frederick Frieseke (1874-1939) The Judas Tree

Frederick Frieseke (1874-1939) Under the Alder Tree (Sadie in the Garden)

Frederick Frieseke (1874-1939) Under the Trees

Frederick Frieseke (1874-1939) Woman in a Doorway

Frederick Frieseke (1874-1939)The Garden in June
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About this blog

In colonial America, men were considered superior to woman in all ways. In a strict patriarchal hierarchy, men controlled not only wealth & political power but also how their children were raised, religious questions, & all matters of right & wrong.

In the early part of the 19Cy, however, many Americans experienced a revolution in gender. The doctrine of “separate spheres” maintained that woman’s sphere was the world of privacy, family, & morality while man’s sphere was the public world -– economic striving, political maneuvering, & social competition. But women were interested in equality.

In 1848, New York passed the Married Woman’s Property Act. Now a woman wasn’t automatically liable for her husband’s debts; she could enter contracts on her own; she could collect rents or receive an inheritance in her own right; she could file a lawsuit on her own behalf. She became for economic purposes, an individual. By 1900, every state has passed legislation modeled after this, granting married women some control over their property and earnings.

In 1870 after the Civi War, the 15th Amendment was ratified, saying, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” African-Americans could vote, but women could not.

But it was not until 1920, that the 19th Amendment was ratified granting women the right to vote. “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”