Mabel Key

Artist Details

• First Name Mabel
• Maiden Name Key
• Surname Key
• Spouse’s Full Name n/a
• Names and Birth Years of Children n/a
• Birth Date February 8, 1874
• Birth Place Paris, France
• Death Date July 6, 1926
• Death Place Chicago, Illinois
• Residence(s) December 1896: Paris, France: briefly at American Girl’s Club, then a pension at 21 rue Valette, Place de Pantheon
  
  circa 1897:16 Tree Studio Building, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1900 Chicago City Directory: 85 Rush St., with sisters Beatrice and Edith
  
  1900 Chicago City Directory: “artist 1019, 2013 Michigan Av”
  
  1910 census: Milwaukee, Wisconsin (living with cousin, Isabel Scott, age 47, born in Wisconsin)  [WPSER]
  
  1913-1915: 311, 254 Mason, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  
  1915-1917, 1919: home: 311 Cudahy Apartments, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  
  1918: 254 Mason St., Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  
  1919-1923: 610 Fullerton Parkway, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1926: home: 420 Wrightwood Ave., Chicago, Illinois
• Active In Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  
  Chicago, Illinois
• Studio Location(s) 1899: 1039 Fine Arts Building, Chicago, Illinois 1913-1915: 254 Mason St., Milwaukee 1926: 609, 81 E. Madison St., Chicago, Illinois
• Categories Lithographer, Watercolorist
• Training Chicago, Illinois
  Paris, France
  
• Subject(s) of Art Array
• Exhibitions History 1899: Annual Exhibition of the Art Students League of Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1913:  Rotary Exhibit, Iris; Weigera Syringa
  
  March 1914: Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors, Milwaukee Art Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  
  1915: Exhibition of Northwestern Artists, St Paul Institute, St. Paul, Minnesota
  
  1916: Exhibition of Northwestern Artists, St Paul Institute, St. Paul, Minnesota: Consider the Lilies, watercolor
  
  1917: Exhibit of Four Milwaukee Painters. J.H. Edwards Gallery, Duluth, Minnesota
  
  October 2-30, 1917: Flower Studies in Water Color by Mabel Key, Milwaukee Institute of Art, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; 21 works
  
  1917: Rotary Exhibition
  
  December 1917: Flower Panels in Water color by Mabel Key, The Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York; Azaleas and Cinerarias; Lilies and Hydrangeas; Our National Colors; Pink Peonies; White Poppies; Oriental Poppies; The Hydrangea Motif; A Decorative Motif; A Statement of Color Values; Larkspur and Peonies; The Pink Orchid; Hollyhocks; The Larkspur; A Gray Day in the Greenhouse; “Consider the Lilies”; Phlox; Salvia; The Geranium Motif; Begonias; The Azalea’s “Good Morning”; Orchids
  
  January 1918: Flower Panels in Water color by Mabel Key, The Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York; Azaleas and Cinerarias; Lilies and Hydrangeas; Our National Colors; Pink Peonies; White Poppies; Oriental Poppies; The Hydrangea Motif; A Decorative Motif; A Statement of Color Values; Larkspur and Peonies; The Pink Orchid; Hollyhocks; The Larkspur; A Gray Day in the Greenhouse; “Consider the Lilies”; Phlox; Salvia; The Geranium Motif; Begonias; The Azalea’s “Good Morning”
  
  March 25-May 1, 1918: Water Colors by Mabel Key, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; 26 works
  
  1919: Wisconsin Public Schools
  
  1919: Milwaukee Art Institute, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hyacinth Motif; Iris and Tulips
  
  Chicago Society of Artists
  
  ?-January 11, 1920: Flower Paintings by Mabel Key, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio; 25 works
  
  January 26-February 5,1920: Exhibition of Decorative Flower Paintings. Arts Club, Chicago, Illinois
  
  March 1920: Decorative Flower Paintings by Mabel Key. Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan: Larkspur and Fountain; The Ophelia Rose; A Play of Color; Small Roses; Hydrangeas and Tulips; Azaleas and Cinerarias; Lilies and Hydrangeas; Peonies; Dahlias; Orchids; Red Phlox; Cala Lily and Cinerarias; Christmas Morning; Fruit Panel (2); Azalias and Good Morning; Pink Geranium and Larkspur; A Color Humoresque; “Consider the Lilies”; A Cala Lily; Blue Larkspur; Pink Peonies; Iris and Tulips
  
  April 1-14, 1920: Exhibition of Paintings by Mabel Key. Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan
  
  1921: 3rd Annual Paintings by Illinois Artists, Peoria, Illinois
  
  1921: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; Decorative Panels (right and left)
  
  1923: Annual Exhibition of Works by Chicago and Vicinity Artists, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1924: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois: Oriental Poppies, watercolor; Christmas Morning
• Publications “Some Work of the Arts and Crafts Society: Chicago, Illinois” in Brush and Pencil, vol. 3, no. 3, December 1898, pp. 148-152. “The Passing of the Poster” in Brush and Pencil, v. 4, no. 1, April 1899, pp. 12-19. “A New System of Art Education Arranged and Directed by Arthur Dow” in Brush and Pencil, v. 4 #5, August 1899, pp. 258-280. “Artistic Lithography: It’s Present Possibilities” in Brush and Pencil, v. 5 no. 1, October 1899, pp. 31-44. “Notes on Bookbindings with Examples by Ellen G. Starr” in Brush and Pencil, v. 5, no. 4, January 1900, pp. 178-182. “The Power of Line in Illustration” in Brush and Pencil, v. 5, no. 5, February 1900, pp. 200-217. “Art Education at the Chicago Institute” in Brush and Pencil, vol. 6, no. 5, August 1900, pp. 237-238
• Memberships Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors. 1914, 1919 (secretary), 1921, resigned 1925
• Awards 1915: honorable mention: Exhibition of Northwestern Artists, St Paul Institute, St. Paul, Minnesota
  
  1916: highest award for watercolors: Exhibition of Northwestern Artists, St Paul Institute, St. Paul, Minnesota: Consider the Lilies, watercolor
  
  silver medal
  
  1917: honorable mention: Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors
  
  1917: second award, Milwaukee Journal Calendar Contest
  
  1919: Milwaukee Art Institute, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: medal and $100 for Iris and Tulips
  
  1923: Charles S Peterson Fund, Annual Exhibition of Works by Chicago and Vicinity Artists, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1924: Honorable Mention: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois: Oriental Poppies
• Other Occupation(s) circa 1897: Teacher of painting and drawing at her studio, 16 Tree Studio Bldg., Chicago, Illinois
• Biography Father:   John Ross Key (Hagerstown, Maryland July 16,1837–1920 Baltimore, Maryland)
  
  Mother:  Mabel Thayer (b. 1854 in England; m. 1873; d. 1897)
  
  Stepmother:  Elenore Dutcher (1875-1930 Baltimore, Maryland); married1902; member of DAR
  
  Siblings:  Beatrice (August 1876-?)
  
  Edith (May 1880-?)
  
  Marion S. (December 1883-?)