Mary S. Townsend Mason

Pastel on paper, measures 18" wide by 15" high, signed and titled lower left. 

Mary Stuard Townsend Mason 

"An accomplished artist painting in an impressionistic style, Mary Townsend Mason was born in Zanesville, Ohio in 1886.

 She began her studies at the Maryland Institute in Baltimore, and then came to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under William Merritt Chase and Hugh Breckenridge.  While studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Mason took residence in Philadelphia, where she lived and painted until her death in 1964.  She also painted on Monhegan Island in Maine, as did many artist of the period.

 Mason was very active in the local arts, being a member of The Philadelphia Art Alliance, the Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Plastic club of Philadelphia, the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors in New York, the American Federation of Arts, and the Philadelphia Water Color club.

 For her distinguished work, Mason was the recipient of many awards, receiving the Cresson Traveling Scholarship from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1909, a Gold Medal form the Plastic Club in 1921 and 1924, and the Mary Smith Prize from the Pennsylvania Academy Fine Arts in 1922, among others.

 Her work has been exhibited nationwide, including the Buffalo Art Institute, the Women’s International Exhibition in St. Louis, the Chicago Galleries Association from 1925-1944, the National Academy of Design in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts."

- Biography from Newman Galleries, Saint Peters, Pennsylvania