Della Garretson   (1859-1940)

Lillie Garretson (1859-1939)

The Garretson Twins, as they were affectionately known by their host of friends, were born in Logan Ohio, October 3, 1859.  Educated in the Detroit Public schools, Della (Dillie) and her sister Lillie always studied and worked together, first in Detroit and later, about 1892, in Dexter. The sisters went to Belgium and France in 1900 to study and to paint.  Settling back home in Michigan, both she and her sister were regularly represented in the Annual Exhibitions of Michigan Artists held at the Detroit Institute of Arts. 

Della maintained her own studio in New York City in the early nineties, during which time (1893) she was honored with a Silver Medal awarded by the National Academy of Design.  In 1900 the sisters went to Belgium and France to study and paint and in the spring of 1902 two of Della's oils were exhibited at the Paris Salon for which she was awarded a Bronze Medal. She later exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and New York.  For many years, both of the sisters were also regularly represented in the Annual Exhibitions of Michigan Artists in Detroit.  She also held memberships in the National Academy of Design, New York; Detroit Society of Women Painters and Sculptors, Detroit and the Scarab Club of Detroit.

In 1905 Della joined the Detroit Society of Women Painters and Sculptors; her sister Lillie joined the organization in 1908. Both of the sisters served in the various offices of the organization, except that of president, as long as they were active.  They exhibited with the Society regularly, with Della's last showing being at the mid-winter J.L. Hudson exhibition of work by the Detroit Society of Women Painters and Sculptors in 1940.  She was eighty years old then and died a few weeks later. 

Sources include:
Moore, Julia Gatlin, History of the Detroit Society of Women Painters and Sculptors, 1903-1953.  Detroit, Michigan.  1953. Gibson, Arthur Hopkin, Artists of Early Michigan, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1975.

Submitted by Edward P. Bentley, researcher of Lansing, Michigan.

source: https://www.askart.com/artist/Della_Garretson/61827/Della_Garretson.aspx