Jessie Allen, 1868 – 1899

Portrait of Jesse Allen, “A California Artist,” Janesville Daily Gazette, February 10, 1898, p. 7

Born in Albany, New York in 1868, Jessie Allen moved to San Francisco with her brother in 1886 after the death of their parents. She first studied at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art (1888 – 1890) and was a member of the Art Students League and the Sketch Club (1894). Allen traveled to Paris in September 1895 in the company of a certain Miss Woodward (possibly artist Anna Woodward), where she lived until her untimely death in 1899, at the age of 31.

In Paris, Allen trained at the Académie Julian and with the landscape painter Raphaël Collin. She also took full advantage of her access to continental Europe, visiting Holland in the summer of 1896, England in the spring of 1897, and then Italy, where she spent close to eight months studying the Venetian masters Canaletto and Guardi.

Some of Allen's Venetian paintings were shown at the annual exhibition of the American Woman’s Art Association (“Miss Jessie Allen, a San Francisco Girl […],” 24). She also submitted a painting of Venice and a miniature portrait to the 1899 Salon des artistes français, where her work received critical acclaim (“Death of a Young Artist,” 14). A reviewer for Le Matin stated that Allen's painting "demonstrates in this young artist a great deal of sincerity. Instead of proceeding like certain well-known painters who have accustomed us to the gleam of the lagoons and the Ducal Palace, Miss Jessie Allen studied the Venetian masters Canaletto and his famous student Guardi, who left us paintings with an exact touch, where Venice appears in a misty atmosphere" (translated from French, "Les Femmes Peintres," 3-4).

Photo Jessie Allen, San Francisco Chronicle, May 8, 1899, 3

Allen's tragic death from blood poisoning following a cycling accident in April 1899 shocked the American colony in Paris. The "pathetically tragic circumstances" of her demise were described in a San Francisco Chronicle article published on May 7, 1899:

[Miss Allen] went on a cycling tour with a party of friends in early April. While riding near Rennes, in Brittany, a dog jumped on her back and threw her to the ground, and she severely sprained her ankle. She was conveyed to Paris, where she consulted Dr. Paul Archambaud, director of the French School of Orthopedic Massage. Though no bone was broken, the tendons of the ankle were severely lacerated and the skin was broken. Archambaud subjected Miss Allen to massage treatment. He used no antiseptics, and blood poisoning resulted. Miss Allen was removed to the Boucicault Hospital where, despite every attention by the most distinguished physicians, she died a week ago. Jessie Allen came to Paris to study art four years ago, and had just placed her foot on the first rung of the ladder of artistic fame by getting two pictures accepted at this year's salon. One of these is a Venetian canal subject, the other a miniature of a girl. Her artist friends blamed the physician who massaged her foot and are indignant (14).

Another article claimed that “Miss Atlee [sic], secretary to the American Girls’ Club to whom Miss Allen applied when her case was becoming serious, said, ‘There is no doubt her death is due to the improper massage treatment.’" The article continued: “When Miss Allen was removed to the hospital, Dr. Marchand suggested amputation of the foot, but Jessie said she would rather die. Injections of pure blood were tried, but the treatment was ineffectual, although she was a particularly strong and healthy woman” (“Pathetic Death of Artist,” 9).

Consul General Gowdy, who organized her funeral services and the transfer of her body to Albany, secured her painting of Venice for her family (“Chicago Salons in Paris,” 16). A portrait of Jessie, no longer extant, was displayed at the funeral ceremony and had been painted by "a fellow American art student," the same Miss Woodward who had initially accompanied her to Paris in 1895 (“Had Bright Prospects […],” 3).

Sources

  • “A California Artist.” Janesville Daily Gazette, February 10, 1898, p. 7. Newspapers.com.
  • Corneau, Grace. “Chicago Salons in Paris.” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 7, 1899, p.16. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
  • "Les Femmes Peintres." Le Matin, December 20, 1897, p.3. RetroNews.
  • “Had Bright Prospects: The Death of Miss Jessie Allen Ended Career of Promise.” San Francisco Chronicle, May 8, 1899, p. 3. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
  • “Miss Jessie Allen, a San Francisco Girl, Takes Honours in Paris.” San Francisco Chronicle, January 9, 1898, p. 24. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
  • “Sketch Club’s Spring Show.” San Francisco Chronicle, April 21, 1896, p. 8. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
  • “The Sketch Club: Some Creditable Paintings by Local Amateurs.” San Francisco Chronicle, May 8, 1894, p.11. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
  • Special Cable to The New York World and The Chicago Tribune. “Pathetic Death of Artist.” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 7, 1899, p. 9. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.