PRINTER'S NO. 708

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

No.

108

Session of

2019

INTRODUCED BY FIEDLER, MARCH 5, 2019

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,

MARCH 5, 2019

WHEREAS, Violet Oakley was a third-generation artist who

would come to embody the spirit of success as a celebrated mural

painter, stained glass designer and printmaker; and

WHEREAS, As a teenager, she studied painting in France, as

well as the Art Students' League of New York; and

WHEREAS, Violet Oakley's father was a successful investment

banker who provided his family with a privileged lifestyle and

supported his daughter's artistic and cultural pursuits; and

WHEREAS, The Panic of 1893, the worst economic depression the

country had experienced at that time, greatly reduced the Oakley

WHEREAS, In 1895, at the age of 22 and despite her family's

financial circumstances, Ms. Oakley entered into a formal

training program for artists at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine

Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, Upon her enrollment, she began to study under the

tutelage of Cecilia Beaux, an accomplished society portraitist

and the only female instructor at the academy; and

WHEREAS, Because the field of art was dominated by men, Ms.

Oakley and fellow female artists encountered a level of

skepticism; and

WHEREAS, By 1897, Ms. Oakley left PAFA and began to study

which is known for its use of brilliant hues, jewel tones and

depictions of scenes of strong, heroic women, often taken

directly from tales from antiquity; and

WHEREAS, In 1900, Violet Oakley successfully worked for

magazines including Collier's, McClure's and the Women's Home

Companion; and

WHEREAS, Around this time, she decided to leave the Drexel

Institute, further embarking on her artistic career by accepting

a series of commissions through which she would receive a level

of fame and recognition, which was publicly covered by the New

the principal designer for murals, mosaics and stained glass at

the All Angels Church in New York City; and

WHEREAS, With her growing fame and through the completion of

her first large-scale work at All Angels Church, Ms. Oakley

moved into the 18th century Red Rose Inn estate in Villanova,

Pennsylvania, with her mother and fellow female artists

Henrietta Cozens, Elizabeth Shippen Green and Jessie Wilcox

Smith; and

WHEREAS, While living at the Red Rose Inn, Ms. Oakley and her

fellow female artists worked diligently in their studio, further

honing their artistic styles; and

traveled abroad, studying frescoes in Italy and researching the

life and events that led William Penn to immigrate from England

due to his views on religious tolerance; and

WHEREAS, When chief muralist for the Pennsylvania State

Capitol, William Austin Abbey, died in 1911, Violet Oakley was

commissioned to complete the remaining murals for the

Pennsylvania State Senate Chamber and the Pennsylvania Supreme

Court room; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Oakley was awarded the commissions for a sum of

$100,000, nearly $2.5 million in current value; and

WHEREAS, It has been said that Ms. Oakley united the fine and

decorative arts through her unique style, which was based on the

revived ideals and practices of the Italian Renaissance; and

WHEREAS, While she was painting the murals for the

Pennsylvania Senate Chamber, World War I began, which directed

her interests and art from national sentiments to international

interests and subjects; and

WHEREAS, Through the inspiration she felt for the League of

Nations and the concepts of international law, she executed her

final commission in the Pennsylvania State Capitol by combining

images and letters to create imagery that was reminiscent of an

WHEREAS, In addition to being an artist, Ms. Oakley was

active in the womens' suffrage movement and spent much of her

time focusing on using imagery as a means of uniting Americans

of different political idealism; and

WHEREAS, She later returned to Philadelphia where she

continued to enjoy a prosperous career through the completion of

many private commissions as well as a series of paintings

depicting delegates to the recently established United Nations;

and

WHEREAS, Violet Oakley died on February 25, 1961, in

American history; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the life

and substantial accomplishments of artist Violet Oakley to the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on the 100th anniversary of the

Pennsylvania Senate murals.