From Reading Public Museum
Pictured above: Tulie Speight (American, 1891-1976), Portrait of a Young Woman (Sarah Blakeslee or Margaret Speight), c. 1926, oil on canvas, 24 1/8 x 22 1/8 inches, Museum Purchase, 2025.8.1.
The Foundation for the Reading Public Museum has announced the acquisition of a rare painting by the Pennsylvania and North Carolina artist, Tulie Speight (1891-1976). It is the only known oil painting by her in an American public collection.
“Since our earliest days as an institution, we have actively sought out and collected works by women artists,” stated Geoffrey K. Fleming, The Museums’ Executive Director and CEO, “and we are delighted to have this painting become part of those rich holdings.”
Sister of the better-known painter Francis Speight (1896-1989), Tulie was born in North Carolina and first studied under Ida Poteat (1858-1940) of Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, who turned the art department at Meredith into one of the most highly regarded in the southern United States. Both Tulie and her brother would eventually go on to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia, where both would receive more than one of the institution’s prestigious Cresson Prizes, allowing the young artists to travel overseas to study in Europe. Between 1925 and 1930, Tulie Speight would travel regularly to Europe.
During her time at PAFA, Tulie Speight studied under both Hugh Breckenridge (1870-1937) and Cecilia Beaux (1855-1942), the first woman to teach full-time at the school. The painting acquired by The Museum depicts a seated young woman who is identified either as Francis Speight’s wife, Sarah Blakeslee (1912-2005), who was also a well-known painter, or Margaret Speight (1889-1940), the older sister of Francis and Tulie.
“This new acquisition shows the strong influence of Breckenridge, with a myriad of small brush strokes and rich colors making up the composition,” stated Scott Schweigert, the Curator of Art at The Museum.
A debilitating injury during the 1930s led Tulie Speight to nearly give up painting, though she would soon turn her sights to writing and the creation of a Latin primer, eventually publishing her book, Liber Latinus, in 1940. The book was essentially a Latin primer for young school children, combining illustrations and text to easily teach the elements of basic Latin. She would tirelessly champion, though unsuccessfully, to have North Carolina implement new curricula that would utilize her book as a way to improve childhood education in her home state.
Following her death in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, in 1976, her works mostly vanished from sight. A small grouping of her drawings from her studies at PAFA was eventually donated by her brother and sister-in-law to Chowan College in her home state, though her oil paintings have remained elusive. “No one is quite sure what happened to them all, though a very small number are still held by the extended family,” stated Schweigert.
When the painting arrived at The Museum, the work had not been touched in decades and required some conservation and a new frame. Now complete, The Museum hopes to have the work installed in the galleries in the near future so that visitors can enjoy this new addition to the collection.
The Reading Public Museum is supported in part by grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and is located at 500 Museum Road, Reading. Admission per day is $14 for adults (18-64), $8 for children/seniors/college students (w/ID), and free to members and children three years old and under. Currently enrolled Reading School District students and up to five accompanying guests receive free regular Museum admission and free admission to public Neag Planetarium shows with proof of enrollment. The Museum is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit www.readingpublicmuseum.org to learn more.
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Source: bctv