By Aili Waller

A Marriage Ahead of its Time

Robert Swain Gifford and Frances Eliot

By Aili Waller

Wolf Humanities Center Undergraduate Fellow, University of Pennsylvania

Thomas Edward Mulligan White, Frances Eliot Gifford and Robert Swain Gifford painting at easels, wet plate negative, NBWM, 2000.100.3732.1

Theirs was no usual Victorian marriage. The artists Robert and Fannie Gifford had a dynamic that might seem more familiar today. He was a talented but penniless artist. She was a well-connected aspiring art student. These two young people from New Bedford found each other among the chaos of New York City, developing both a professional and romantic partnership, defined by equality and respect.

Robert Swain Gifford (1840-1905) was born on Nonamesset Island, one of the Elizabeth Islands along Buzzards Bay, to a poor laboring family. His father was a fisherman and boatman along Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound. When Robert was three years old, his family moved to Fairhaven, where he spent his childhood. At this time, Fairhaven was home to several important artists, including Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), and William Bradford (18231892). As a teenager, Robert joined this artistic community by studying under another local artist, the local Dutch marine painter, Albert Van Beest (1820-1860).1 In an attempt to establish himself there Gifford accompanied Van Beest to New York but would shortly return to New Bedford striking up a friendship with local sculptor Walton Ricketson (1841-1923). The two would travel together in the summers of 1863 and 1864 gaining inspiration from the wild landscapes of the Adirondacks and the Bay of Fundy. When it came time to strike out on his own, Robert moved to Boston later in 1864. Then two years later, he moved to the even larger and more bustling New York City, joining a generation of upand-coming landscape painters pursuing their artistic aspirations.2

Frances “Fannie” Eliot came from a much more affluent and well-connected background than her future husband. She was born in 1844 to a prominent political family. Her father was a lawyer and congressman, serving in the US House of

1 Letter to Mr. Frothingham, 25 June 1874, folder 5, sub-series 1, series A, sub-group 1, Mss 12, NBWM. Albert Van Beest was an influential character to young artists in the region. In addition to R.

Swain Gifford, William Bradford, C.H. Gifford, and Lemuel Eldred, all benefitted from his influence either directly or indirectly. 2 Maria Naylor, The National Academy of Design Exhibition Record, 1861-1900, (New York, New York: Kennedy Galleries, Inc., 1973), 337-340. Representatives for over a decade.3 She grew up very comfortably in New Bedford, living in a large home with multiple servants. To put into perspective the disparate upbringings of Fannie and Robert, in 1870, the Eliot family reported having $40,000 in personal estate, while the Giffords reported only having $100 to their name.4

Fannie moved to New York City to train as an artist a few years after Robert.5 At this time an art education was one of the few types of higher education open to women. Artistic training became a way for young women to try to improve their prospects by learning skills that could help their families earn a living.6 Fannie, however, held a unique position because she was not painting out of necessity to support her family. During the Victorian era, it was unusual for a woman of Fannie’s status to be pursuing skills and knowledge outside of the home, especially the publicfacing career of an artist. Fortunately, her family’s financial support and encouragement allowed her to pursue these artistic ambitions.

By the mid-nineteenth century being a woman artist was starting to become an acceptable and respectable career aspiration. However, this progress was largely restricted to northeastern cities like Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City. In the areas where women’s art aspirations were taken seriously, the number of women artists was quite considerable. In fact, this career path was becoming so prevalent that by the 1860s, art classes taken at a seminary school or through independent study did not count as artistic training. To be considered a professional

3 “Eliot, Thomas Dawes,” History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/E/ELIOT,Thomas-Dawes-(E000106)/ 4 Frances Eliott. United States Census, 1870: New Bedford Ward 4, Bristol, Massachusetts; Roll: M593_605; p. 172B; Robert S. Gifford. United States Census, 1870; Census Place: New Bedford Ward 6, Bristol, Massachusetts; Roll: M593_605; Page: 234A. 5 It is not clear from the Gifford papers which exact year Fannie came to NYC. She was definitely there by 1867 but she could have come in 1866 or even 1865. (The regular Cooper Union curriculum was 4 years but students tended to leave whenever they could start getting steady artistic work) 6 April F. Marsten, Art Work: Women Artists and Democracy in Mid-Nineteenth Century New York, (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008), 69-70.

artist, a woman would need to enroll in classes at a bona fide art school.7 Again, these schools were concentrated in the northeast of the United States, the most prestigious of which being in New York City. Fannie enrolled at Cooper Union, a newly opened NYC design school offering a variety of art classes to young women.8 Her decision to immerse herself in the central, fast-paced, and rigorous New York art scene shows her dedication to becoming a professional artist rather than just a hobbyist or accomplished amateur.

Robert was also in New York, working hard to become a successful professional artist. However, he struggled to adjust to life in the big city. He constantly sent letters back to his family and friends in New Bedford lamenting how homesick he felt. He had few nice things to say about New York City, and complained frequently about how noisy, cold, and bleak, he found it to be. He often wrote of feeling profoundly lonely and lost, as he did not have the same support networks there that Fannie did. She had many well-connected relatives and family friends in the city with whom she could spend time, and she did not have to support herself financially. Robert, lacking these benefits, had to work hard to carve out a place for himself in the city. And although he often felt discouraged, he stayed committed to his career. In one letter home, he wrote:

I…wish New Bedford was a little nearer…I am working steadily in spite of the times being so hard and my reputation as an Artist…is steadily on the increase and my friends all predict for me a “brilliant future” as they are pleased to term it. I do not care particularly for the brilliant future, but I do wish to get money enough together to make mother and father comfortable in their declining years, then I may have some plans for my own comfort.9

Although he missed home, Robert did have one thing in the city to remind him of New Bedford,

7 Ibid., 69-70. 8 Robert Swain Gifford to Lydia Swain, 9 February 1868, folder 5, sub-series 2, series A, sub-group 1, Mss 12, NBWM. 9 Ibid., 26 January 1868. the admired and talented art student, Fannie Eliot. Having arrived in New York a few seasons after him and being four years younger, she was behind him in her training.10 Their relationship began as a platonic mentorship of sorts as between an older brotherly figure and his young hometown advisee. He would call upon her often to catch up on New Bedford gossip and discuss their artistic ambitions. They became anchors for each other in New York—she possibly more for him than the other way around. In his letters, Robert frequently wrote about how much he enjoyed his visits with her and expressed disappointment when he did not get to see her.11

But Robert did not simply enjoy Fannie’s personal company. He also respected her work as an artist. Although women artists were not an oddity at this time in the mid-nineteenth century, the career path was still new, and male artists could be patronizing, discouraging, or even hostile toward their female colleagues. Robert however truly believed in Fannie’s talent and even took steps to further her career.

By 1869, Fannie had completed her training at Cooper Union and was embarking on her official career as an artist. In New York at the time, the chief means for an artist to prove oneself was to exhibit at an art association. Artists ran such institutions to promote public interest, show their work, receive press, and make professional connections.12 The National Academy of Design had a status higher than other art associations since it tended to set the standards of achievement in art production. The Academy’s exhibitions were considered the most central and prestigious art events of the year. Adding to the prestige was the fact that these exhibitions were juried by a council of academicians and associates.13 This meant that an artist’s work could only be

10 Although Robert’s family moved around the New Bedford area (living in Fairhaven and other neighboring towns at different points), Robert pretty much exclusively refers to New Bedford as his home in his letters.

11 Ibid., 17 November 1867. 12 Marsten, Art Work, 139-140 13 “The National Academy of Design.” National Academy Notes

Including the Complete Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, National

Academy of Design, no. 4 (1884): 127–38. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/25608025

included in the show if it was deemed worthy by a committee of the most acclaimed and respected artists in New York City.

Fig. 3. Robert Swain Gifford, Sketch of Aci Castello in a letter to Fannie Eliot, New Bedford Whaling Museum.

As a driven young artist, Fannie set her sights on the National Academy of Design’s 1869 spring exhibition. She worked hard creating two pictures to submit, both landscape paintings of Cape Cod. However, before sending her pieces to the Academy, she sent them to Robert, who had been exhibiting his work at the Academy since 1863.14 After receiving her paintings, Robert wrote:

[Your paintings] looked very nice. You have certainly improved very much during the winter. They have been liked by all who have seen them. I did not think the prices too high—in fact not high enough, so I marked the small one $40.00 and the other one $75.00. Here in NY they will sell just as quick for the prices I have put upon them as for the ones you named…When you are “starting” it is well to get your pictures scattered around people’s houses so that they can be seen, and to do so you have to sell when you get a chance... I don’t think you need have any doubt about their being accepted… I did not see much in them to touch over excepting two or three little places along the edges of the near trees and then your name on the small picture could hardly be seen so I took the liberty of making it more distinct…You must have worked hard to get the large picture done in time— must rest now awhile.15

These words show that Robert’s support of Fannie’s career went far beyond kind encouragement. He actively intervened, tweaking her pictures and marking up her prices. But he did not stop there. A few days later, he wrote again to Fannie:

Your pictures were accepted without any hesitation and they have been very well ‘hung’. A great number of works were rejected. Your largest picture is a little above a level with the eye—they may be put in a still better place in a day or two than is now, although the position it occupies now is good. All this is ‘contraband news’ and you must never let anyone here in New York know that you got such information before the opening of the Exhibition, as it is strictly against the rules of the Academy to let anyone know about the ‘hanging’ before ‘Varnishing day’... I hope now that the ‘ice is broken’ you will paint something for the Academy Exhibition every spring.16

During exhibitions, the walls of the Academy were filled floor to ceiling with paintings. Having one’s work hanging in the right spot could make or break a sale. Artists often complained or consoled each other about a poor placement, always blaming the hanging committee which had complete control over picture placement. Robert had ensured that Fannie’s pictures

15 Robert Swain Gifford to Frances Lincoln Eliot Gifford, 30 March 1869, folder 8, sub-series 2, series A, sub-group 1, Mss 12, NBWM. 16 Ibid., 9 April 1869.

were ‘very well hung’. In a letter to his patron, he confided that he had lobbied the committee to hang Fannie’s pictures prominently.17 That Robert would go to such lengths for a young female colleague is astonishing and demonstrates just how much he wanted to help and also impress Fannie. which included numerous anecdotes making him seem worldly and masculine, are far different than his letters to his parents where he would talk about how sick and lonely he was.

That said, Robert was not the only one who saw promise in Fannie’s work. Her pictures also received a favorable review in the New-York Tribune. Additionally, even with the art market in a downturn at the time, Fannie actually sold one of her paintings from the exhibition.18 None of this would have likely happened had Robert not ensured that her paintings (and her name) were viewed at eye level. The following summer, in 1870, Robert went abroad for the first time. Still struggling to make his career as an artist, he could not afford such a trip. Rather the voyage was bankrolled by the Tiffany family who were seeking a chaperone for their young, brash son, Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), who was looking to explore the romantically foreign landscapes of Europe and North Africa. Although he wrote many letters back home during this time, the ones for Fannie were more intimate and often include full-blown painted sketches.

After this successful spring exhibition, Robert and Fannie grew closer. They began corresponding while they were apart from each other over the summer, something they had not done in previous years. Landscape artists tended to leave the city in the summer. They would go on trips to gather sketches to then bring back to their studios which would later form the basis for finished works. The summer after the 1869 exhibition, Robert traveled west to California. While away, he sent Fannie long letters describing his travels and detailing the landscape. Sometimes, he would even include sketches of the sights for her.19 One cannot help noticing that these letters, 17 Robert Swain Gifford to Lydia Swain, 4 April 1869, folder 8, subseries 2, series A, sub-group 1, Mss 12, NBWM. 18 Christopher Pearse Cranch to Robert Swain Gifford, 15 June 1869, folder 3, sub-series 1, series A, sub-group 1, Mss 12, NBWM, New

Bedford, MA. 19 Robert Swain Gifford to Frances Lincoln Eliot Gifford, 10 August 1869, folder 9, sub-series 2, series A, sub-group 1, Mss 12, NBWM,

New Bedford, MA. In one letter, after recounting the sights, he wrote: I must say Fannie dear that I have been homesick Portrait of Robert Swain Gifford, carte-de-visite. NBWM, 1981.34.23 all day today and am very much so this evening… your photograph comforts me, I have it where I can take it out and look at it a long time before I return for the night. I have taken all the photographs of my friends and put them on the stand beside my bed, and yours is among the number so that Tiffany has no suspicion... He wonders why I can work so hard (I have many more sketches and more carefully done than before). He has never known what is at the bottom of it. He has not known what it is to love a woman…Good night my love—God bless and keep you ever Fannie, Ever yours, Robert.20 By this point it is obvious that Robert and Fannie’s relationship had grown from mutual professional respect into a real romance. However, because of 20 Ibid., 21 August 1870.

Victorian social mores, the romance part had to be kept under wraps. They were not yet engaged and at this point could not be. According to Victorian custom, a husband was expected to support his wife’s lifestyle in a manner commensurate with her upbringing. Robert would have felt pressure to be as successful as Fannie’s father, a lawyer and congressman, in order to marry her. Thus, Robert used this trip to produce hundreds of sketches, which he hoped to parlay into more valuable art. North African scenes were unique to American audiences at the time, so they sold quicker and at higher prices.

When Robert returned to the United States, his new paintings drew great attention and success. In fact, his status and stability as an artist rose enough that by the next summer, he was engaged, and by the following summer in 1873, he was married to his love Fannie Eliot.21 the colder months and use their summer portfolios to work on larger art pieces. The spring would be the season for artist receptions and exhibitions, where they could find buyers and make sales. Then this schedule would repeat itself with another set of summer travels. Although the life of a landscape artist required constant hustling and dedication, as a married couple, Robert and Fannie spent their “busyness” together.

At the time of the marriage, Fannie and Robert were older than usual for the time, being twenty-eight and thirtythree years old, respectively. Their union embodied equality, mutual respect, and partnership. In an age defined by the Victorian doctrine of separate spheres, where the ideal was for a wife to remain at home while the husband worked, Robert and Fannie bucked the norm. They both had creative and publicfacing careers. Robert was a staunch advocate of his wife’s work and was her partner in their professional endeavors. They made art in the company of each other, with aligned passions, ambitions, and as their day-to-day activity. Their yearly schedule took on a predictable calendar. During the summer, they would travel out of New York City to create sketches and studies. Then they would return to the city during

In 1874 they left the United States and spent the entire year abroad. They traveled through Europe and North Africa, retracing the travels that Robert had taken with Tiffany (who, like Gifford, was now producing Moorish style art inspired from the trip). While enjoying the sights, they also worked on paintings to send back to New York City to be exhibited while they were abroad.22 As most landscape artists confined their Gurney & Son New York, Portrait of Frances Eliot, carte-de-visite, circa 1867. NBWM, 1981.34.5 travels to summertime sketching trips within the northeastern United States, Robert and Fannie’s yearlong voyage was exceptional. They were an ocean away from family and friends and experiencing weeks or months’ long delays in news from home. Fannie and Robert had each other both for company to lean on and the moral support to maintain their chosen course. They relied upon each other to weather concerns and fears about their faraway families and stay dedicated to their painting. Robert especially benefited from the emotional support of Fannie’s companionship. Before they were married, he was often lonely while working, complaining and worrying continuously to his parents. However, on

22 Robert Swain Gifford to Lydia Swain, 16 December 1874, folder 23, sub-series 2, series A, sub-group 1, Mss 12, NBWM.

this trip Robert’s letters home are full of joy and excitement. He wrote about how the foreignness of the sites and lifestyles excited and intrigued him, a far cry from his complaints about the ruralness of North Africa while he traveled with Tiffany.23 Now that he was with Fannie, he had a partner who was on the same path as he was and committed to the same goals.

Upon returning home their idyllic lives changed. They had children. This was a challenge then as it is now. Fannie had her first child in 1875 when she was thirty years old, which was much later than usual in the nineteenth century.24 Marrying late and putting off having children is what allowed Fannie and Robert to initially have such a modern union. But now, while Robert went to New York to paint, exhibit, and sell his art, Fannie remained home in New Bedford with the baby. This lifestyle shift was a serious adjustment for both of them. He missed her immensely and wished he did not have to be alone working to support his family, writing, “I find thoughts wandering off towards home very often now and I wish it were possible to see Fannie and our little one when evening comes.”25

Having a child to care for, Fannie no longer had the same freedom and flexibility that she did as a young working artist. She could not spend all of her time painting at her studio, networking with her artistic colleagues, or going on summer excursions into the wilderness. She now had to dedicate her time to running a household and caring for her young child.

Still, Fannie did not wholly give up her career as an artist. She continued to exhibit at least one of her art pieces at the National Academy of Design for the next couple of years.26 However, with the growing responsibility of more children, Fannie

23 Robert Swain Gifford to Gabriella Frederica Eddy White, 15

December 1874, folder 23, sub-series 2, series A, sub-group 1, Mss 12, NBWM. 24 Annie and Samuel Colman to Robert Swain Gifford and Frances

Lincoln Eliot Gifford, 6 October 1875, folder 5, sub-series 1, series

A, sub-group 1, Mss 12, NBWM. 25 Robert Swain Gifford to Lydia Swain, 5 December 1875, folder 24, sub-series 2, series A, sub-group 1, Mss 12, NBWM. simply had less time to paint. During the 1880s, she only exhibited her work twice at the Academy.27 By the end of this decade Fannie had given birth to seven children (tragically only her five daughters lived to adulthood). She did not seem to be resentful about giving up her career. Instead, her priorities had shifted from herself and her art to her family and her children. Even when she had to spend most of her time with domestic duties, she did not completely give up her art. For example, in 1885, she and Robert both contributed to Theodore Roosevelt’s first book, Hunting Trips of a Ranchman. 28 Robert’s illustrations were of western landscapes, while Fannie sketched various kinds of birds, one of her specialties.

Robert and Fannie were married for thirty-two years. He died in 1905, and she died in 1931. Throughout their lives, they remained each other’s anchors, sharing their love of art and their family. Their letters to each other are a lasting legacy of their courtship and marriage. It is particularly fitting that this testament to this union ahead of its time remains in New Bedford, the place that anchored them to each other.

27 Ibid., 336-337. 28 Theodore Roosevelt, Hunting Trips of a Ranchman (New York and

London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1885), Bartleby.com, 1998. www. bartleby.com/52/.

Fannie and Robert had each other both for company to lean on and the moral support to maintain their chosen course.

Robert Swain Gifford and Frances Eliot Gifford on porch of their Nonquitt house with baby, stereograph, NBWM, 2000.100.1592.