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Abstracts, Oils, Sculptures... |
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Some Sisters of Charity, BVM, had artistic talent that was not fully developed because their education often was geared toward academic areas other than the arts. Fortunately many Sisters with special talents developed them through their educations and were able to use, to a greater or lesser extent, their considerable abilities to enrich the lives of others. Three of these, BVMs Ernestine Henthorne, Gabriel O'Neill and James Ann Walsh did much to bring beauty into the lives of BVMs and others fortunate enough to discover and display their works. Portraying BVM Foundress
Since Ernestine entered the BVMs after Mary Frances's death, she had no memory of her own to draw upon. There was only a deathbed photograph of Mother Clarke, and the lower jaw had changed, so Ernestine used “the fine forehead, the heavy eyebrows and the short, straight nose.” Then she called upon those sisters who had known Mother Clarke. “What I was trying to do was to form a mental picture and a character study of a great woman from what I was told, and then express those qualities admired and loved by all who knew her.” Ernestine said that although Mother Clarke was short she never appeared weak in any way. “She had good shoulders, always walking erect, with the alertness of youth. Her eyes were very dark, and under her heavy black eyebrows, could be piercing and penetrating in spite of the kindness in their depths.” Mother Isabella, who had commissioned the portrait, and others who had met Mother Clarke were very impressed with the results. On one occasion Ernestine put her “masterpiece” with other portraits and asked the Sisters to identify those they could. To a person they immediately recognized the woman they so revered and were very pleased. Fascination with Angels
Her works are many, but perhaps she would prefer that we read the summary of her life that she printed on a gold-edged note card in a very unsteady hand: Obituary Education:
On the inside of the card, she listed three, of the many, works she wanted to be remembered as hers:
Pillars and statues adorning temples of ancient Greece inspired her Gabriel's designs; she then created the figures. The statues were next cast in plaster and sent to Italy where they were rendered in concrete. They are about two stories high and stand on either side of the main doors of Mundelein College (now part of Loyola University).
Linking Art and Philosophy
In 1960 James Ann made a tour of European countries beginning in West Berlin and continuing through France, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy and others, capturing magnificent scenes from each. Some titles from this journey are “Night—West Berlin,” (ink and casein) showing the almost frantic gaiety of this “island city in an ocean of joyless Marxist socialism”; “Mont St. Michel” an oil of this dour monastic fortress in grays and umbers and another oil “Candles of Chartes,” “a symbolic commentary on the fervor of thousands of pilgrims who keep alight a forest of flame before the Virgin of Chartres.”1 One of her paintings “Pioneer Angelus” commemorated the first Angelus rung in Dubuque and it was prominently displayed at Clarke College for many years. As a teacher James Ann believed that art students needed a strong background in the works of Plato, Aristotle and Jacques Maritain “if they are to relate what they are doing with the past and present” and arranged their courses of study to include these philosophers. Also, she was quite open to changes in the art world and produced a number of abstract paintings, some of which are displayed near the Clarke College library. Mary James Ann left Clarke in 1967 to teach in California; while there, she developed cancer. Its rapid advance made necessary her return to Mt. Carmel in April of 1980 and by the end of May she was gone. Few of her works are in BVM hands, but, as she would have wanted, they are gracing collections and museums where they continue to give pleasure to many.
Footnote: About the author: Jean Byrne, BVM (Jean Francis) is a researcher and writer in the BVM Archives. Return to Table of Contents. |
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Ernestine, born in 1889 and baptized Genevieve, has an impressive college transcript. In addition to Art and ordinary requirements she has 14 music courses, among them, Vocal, Band, Harmony, Violin and Piano and Organ. Her place in the BVM memory, however, comes chiefly from the portrait of Mother Mary Frances Clarke that graced most, if not all, BVM convents from the 1930s (below). 
Gabriel O'Neill, BVM, was born in Battle Creek, Neb., baptized Catherine Francis and entered the BVMs from Milwaukee in 1909. Always teaching and producing in some area of art, she was missioned in eight different places; her longest was at Clarke College, 1915-1952. 
The sculptures of angels, commissioned by Mother Isabella Kane, are, Jophiel, “the beauty of God” and “Uriel, the light of God” (left). 
BVM Mary James Ann Walsh was born in 1912 and baptized Seraphia Angela. After high school she entered the BVM congregation and gained a BA from Clarke, where she began her teaching and creative endeavors in 1933 and continued as instructor or department chair until 1967. During this time she exhibited many works in varied media like “oils,” “lacquers and oils,” “caseins,” “drawings,” “water colors” and “mosaics.” 