Hildegarde Hamilton - continued.
Copyright 2005, Debbie Hughes
In 1930 Hildegarde exhibited mostly in Washington D.C. at the Carlton Hotel through the Art Promoters Club of which she was a member, however, she also had exhibits in New York at the Grand Central Palace, American - Anderson Galleries on 30 East, 57th St. and the Huntington Bay and Yacht Clubs. Her gallery shows at this time included paintings of Italy, France, Switzerland, Greece, Yugoslavia and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Hildegarde and family lived at 9 Gramercy Park at this time.
In late July of this year she departed once again for Europe with her husband, daughter - Meldagonde and her father. In October in Paris she gave birth to her second child - Hume. The family stayed in Europe till the following year.
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Around January - February 1931, Hildegarde met Rudyard Kipling in her travels. Later he wrote to her on April 25 from Aix-en-Provence - praising her paintings. Kipling also acquired one of Hildegarde's paintings later which was a study of a fountain in Aix-en-Provence. (See Public and Private Collections).
In the Spring, Hildegarde painted in Ajaccio and Corsica, in the summer she painted in Jeroma, Northern Spain. During this same time period 1930-31, Hobart had written a book titled Francois Fabie (Fabre) - a story about a peasant poet. It was published in France in 1931 and translated into several foreign languages. Hildegarde supplied illustrations of French subjects for the book.
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| In the fall of 1931 Hildegarde and family returned to the U.S. From 1932 - 1933, she had shows in New York, New Jersey, and Washington D.C. Also in 1932 she was elected a non-resident member of the National Arts Club in New York City and given her own gallery space at 15 Gramercy Park. In 1933, she again sailed for Europe. From 1933-35 she had One-Man Shows in Constantinople, Turkey; American College, Sophia, Bulgaria; Heidelberg University, Germany and on the Steamship "Washington" returning from Europe.
While in Istanbul, Hildegarde was admitted into a Turkish harem to paint the slaves, apparently the only artist from the states allowed to do this. She was also granted permission to paint in a Mohammedan Harem in Tangier but was not allowed to sell the paintings .Shortly afterwards she was allowed to paint in the royalpalace gardens at Seville - the first woman artist allowed to do this.
She returned to America with 150 paintings and resumed exhibits in New York and Washington D.C. The scenes in these pieces were of Seville, Spain, Faro, Tetuan, Nuremberg, Palma, Budapest and Istanbul. In October of 1935, Hildegarde recieved a
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| letter from Pearl Buck who saw her paintings at the Pen and Brush Club in New York and offerered praise. Pearl Buck was also a member. The picture on the right was taken from a newspaper article announcing an exhibit at the Ten O'clock Club in Washington D.C. Meldagonde is on the left and Hume is in the middle. |
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In June of 1936, Hildegarde sailed for Europe again to paint scenes along the Dalmation Coast, Austria, Budapest and Switzerland. In November she returned to exhibit at the Pen and Brush club.In 1937, Hildegarde bought a home on the Tarpon River in Fort Lauderdale as a vacation home, several years later this home became her permanent home and studio.
photo on left taken from a copy of an article in the New York Times: dated Sunday,November 29, 1936.
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From 1938 to 1943 Hildegarde experienced her darkest times. In 1938, Hildegarde and Hobart divorced. He moved back to Virginia and started another family. Hildegarde remained in New York with her two children. In 1939, she recieved more bad news, her father had died. After James Hamilton's death, Hildegarde suffered a nervous breakdown and was confined to a mental hospital for one year. Meldagonde and Hume were sent to live with their father and step-family. The bio I have leaves alot of details out on what happened at this time. I know from my mom that Hildegarde was very close to her father considering he was her closest relative and on their trips to Europe they spent most of their time together. Hildegarde didn't resume painting until 1943 when she chose to paint West Point from the River - where Hobart had been an instructor during the War years (W.W. II). |
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| From 1943 on Hildegarde resumed painting and exhibiting - mostly one-man shows in New York. In 1946 she started spending her summers in Nassau and would continue doing this til the remainder of her life. Her work would lead her from Nassau to Abaco, Eleuthera, Spanish Wells, Exuma, Grand Bahama and other outer islands. In 1949 she had her 1st one-man show in Nassau. In 1954 during her summers in Nassau, Hildegarde would exhibit at The Lucerne Hotel every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon.
My mom: Meldagonde on left, Hume on the right and Hildegarde - center. I believe this was a photo taken while they lived in Fort Lauderdale, FL taken around 1943-44.
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From 1954-55, while her son Hume was stationed in the U.S. Army in Germany, Hildegarde followed him to Europe where she painted in Venice, the French Alps, Paris, Germany and throughout the continent. During his leaves they traveled and painted together. In the fall of 1955, Hildegarde had a one-man show at the National Arts Club at 15 Gramercy Park, New York. Her exhibit included most of the work she did in Europe as well as paintings from Nassau. She continued to exhibit in both NewYork and Nassau and even had one exhibit in Lima Peru in 1963 at the Galerias Ivaldi. In the summer of 1965 she returned to Europe again to paint in London, Wales, Belgium,Paris, and Lisbon. In the Spring of 1966 she traveled to Malta, Palermo, Tripoli and Rome. She was written up in the Malta News, June 3rd 1966. Apon her return to the U.S. Hildegarde was written up in a story by Terry Frost in the Miami Herald. The story was titled: "If there's no answer she's in another Country". Dated July 26, 1966. |
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In the spring of 1967, Hildegarde travelled to Rio de Janeiro and then on to Argentina. In 1968 she exhibited in Nassau - mostly at the Carlton House. In 1969 she travelled to Equador and in that same year she traveled to New York in the fall to exhibit paintings at the Hotel Irving. |
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| From December 30 - January 4, 1970 Hildegarde had a One man Show at the Pen and Brush Club in New York. The exhibit included scenes of Equador. This was Hildegarde's last exhibit. Sometime in New York Hildegarde had a stroke and became dissoriented. She had traveled alone and her son, Hume had to drive up and bring her back home to Fort Lauderdale. She was hospitalized at Broward General Medical Center upon her return. The rest of the family traveled down to see her (we lived in Atlanta, Ga at this time). On January 22nd, 1970 Hildegarde died in her sleep. The cause of death was a heart condition resulting from pneumonia and various complications. It was quite sudden for all us, considering how energetic and strong she was the last time we had seen her. We had also wondered if Hildegarde had a traumatic experience in New York, because she kept repeating that someone had been trying to steal her paintings there. We never knew exactly what happened. She was missed very much by all of us, especially me - I was 12 at the time. |
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| Hildegarde and me - I was about 9 or 10. One lazy summer afternoon we painted with my mom - Meldagonde (she took the picture) in a low income district of Atlanta. I believe it might have been Little Five Points in Atlanta, but I'm not certain. The houses were really old and the streets had old stone sidewalks. It made a pretty picture |
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Firsts for Hildegarde Hamilton
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- Believed to be the first Woman permitted to use her palette and canvas to paint the slaves inside the "Holy of Holies" - a Turkish harem in Instanbul. Also, she was granted permission to paint in a Mohammedan harem in Tangier.
- First woman to study at the Academia de Bellas Artes, Sevilla, Spain.
- First woman allowed to paint in the Royal Gardens at Seville.
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Hildegarde's Paintings in Public and Private Collections (a Partial listing)
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- Eaton Gallery, New York City
- Hall of Art, New York City
- Virginia Military Institute, Lexington,Virginia
- Vice President Charles Gates Dawes
- The Allen Collection, Florida
- Sir Bede Clifford, Governor of the Bahamas
- Governor and Lady Grey, Nassau, Bahamas
- Sir Robert Neville, Governor ot the Bahamas
- Indian Students Club, Darwin's House, London
- American Church of Paris
- Societe des Beaux Arts, Paris
- Rudyard Kipling, English Novelist and poet, 1865-1936
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These names were culled from articles in newspapers, and they are but a few of the literally thousands of people Worldwide that acquired her works over the years. |
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Hildegarde was also listed in editions of :
- Who's who in Art
- Who's who in American Art
- Who's who in the Southeast
- E. Benezit, Paris
- Enciclopedia Del Ante En America, Buenos Aires
- And she held memberships in over 30 art organizations worldwide.
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