Gretchen Osgood Warren

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Gretchen Warren of Beacon Hill, Boston

Gretchen Osgood Warren (19 March 1868–September, 1961); the wife of Fiske Warren was an actress, singer, poet and muse. She was the Daughter of Dr. Hamilton Osgood and Margaret Cushing Osgood of Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts. Her younger sister was Mary Alden Childers wife of writer and Irish nationalist Robert Erskine Childers.

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[edit] Early Life

A very talented girl from childhood; it was clear that she had a wide range of creative gifts. She could sing perfectly in pitch, write like an adult and recite poetry on command.[1] Her upbringing in the affluent environment; that was turn of the century Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts; allowed her to pursue music and drama to an extremely high level.[2] Just down the street from the Osgood home was the Boston Athenaeum, a real treasure for young Gretchen. She, along with a long line of Osgoods, namely Frances Sargent Osgood and Samuel Stillman Osgood, are all listed on the "Register of the Proprietors" for the institution.[3] Gretchen went on to study at Oxford and graduated with honors.[4]

"Mrs. Fiske Warren (Gretchen Osgood) and Her Daughter Rachel, 1903" John Singer Sargent
"Mrs. Fiske Warren (Gretchen Osgood) and Her Daughter Rachel, 1903" John Singer Sargent

[edit] John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent, the famed portraitist of Boston's elite, was commissioned by Warren's husband, Fiske Warren to paint her portrait in April 1903.[5] The sitting was done in Fenway Court, then the home of legendary Boston fine arts czar; Isabella Stewart Gardner. Warren is seen seated in a chair with her daughter Rachel Warren. The painting is often considered to be one of Sargent's prime portraits and usually appears in Sargent Estate Calendars and Postcards,[6][7][8]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0016%2FCHILDERS|Private Papers : Robert Erskine Chidlers, Trinity College Library, Cambridge
  2. ^ "The Mount Vernon Street Warrens" Martin Green, Simon & Schuster, 1989 ISBN 0684191091, pp 150-156.
  3. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=3keGTXm_uaUC&pg=PT73&lpg=PT73&dq=Boston+Athenaeum+Mary+alden&source=web&ots=700NU29ASs&sig=9_NLmoE26O042z39S8DdaITYTv8&hl=en#PPT79,M1
  4. ^ "The Mount Vernon Street Warrens" Martin Green, Simon & Schuster, 1989 ISBN 0684191091, pp 150-156.
  5. ^ "The Mount Vernon Street Warrens" Martin Green, Simon & Schuster, 1989 ISBN 0684191091, p.151
  6. ^ John Singer Sargent's Mrs. Fiske Warren (Gretchen Osgood) and Her Daughter Rachel
  7. ^ MFA Boston: Collections Search Results
  8. ^ "The Mount Vernon Street Warrens" Martin Green, Simon & Schuster, 1989 ISBN 0684191091, pp.150-156

[edit] References

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