Jessie Arms BOTKE (1883-1971)

Birth place: Chicago, IL

Death place: Santa Paula, CA

Addresses: Chicago, IL; Santa Paula, CA

Profession: Painter, illustrator, printmaker, muralist

Studied: Art Institute of Chicago, with John Johanson, Charles Woodbury; Herter; Europe

Exhibited: Art Institute of Chicago, 1904-15 (as Jessie Arms), 1917-27 (as Jessie Arms Botke), prizes, 1918, 1919, 1926; Peoria Society of Allied Artists, 1918 (med.); Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1919;  National Association of Women Artists, 1925 (prize), 1933 (prize); Sesqui- Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, PA, 1926; Southwest Exposition, 1928 (medal); Western Academy Painters, 1935 (prize), 1936 (prize); Sanity in Art, 1938 (prize); National Academy of Design; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Corcoran Gallery, 1926, 1932; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Golden Gate Exposition, 1939; California Palace Legion of Honor; California State Fair, 1947 (prize); Chicago Galleries Association,1951 (prize); Paris Salon.

Member: California Watercolor Society; California Art Club; National Association of Women Artists; American Watercolor Society; Foundation of Western Art; Chicago Gallery of Art; Grand Central Gallery Art

Work: Art Institute of Chicago; Nebraska Art Association; Santa Paula, Bakersfield, Gardena (CA) High School; Mills College; Swope Gallery of Art; Norton Gallery of Art; Los Angeles County College; murals, University of Chicago; I. Magnin Co., Los Angeles; Woodrow Wilson High School, Oxnard, CA; Ojai, CA; Art Deco restorations.

Comments: After 1905 she painted friezes for a decorating firm and, following a painting trip to Europe, she designed tapestries in NYC. She married C. Botke in Chicago and moved to California in 1919. Noted for decorative paintings of exotic birds, she often painted on metallic surfaces.

Sources: Who's Who 1966; Who's Who 1947; Hughes, Artists of California, '62; P&H Samuels, '60; Charles Woodbury and His Students; '22; Trenton, ed. Independent Spirits, '58 (w/repro.)

This biography is drawn from the 'Who Was Who in American Art' , the reference book on the cultural life in the United States.

Museums (10):

City of Ventura Municipal Art Collection 

Art Institute of Chicago

San Diego Museum of Art Balboa Park

Sheldon Swope Art Museum

The Carnegie Art Museum

The Irvine Museum

Norton Gallery of Art

Union League Club of Chicago 

USC Fisher Gallery

Ventura County Museum of History & Art

Accessories     Ceramics     Early Asian Ceramics     Fine Art     Furniture     Glassware     Silver     Home