Elisabeth Cary

May 18, 1867 (age 69)

Miss Cary's first publications were three translations from the French: Francisque Sarcey's Recollections of Middle Life (1893), the lively reminiscences of a French journalist whom Edward Cary admired; and two books which brought modern French authors to the attention of American readers. Her own first books were Tennyson: His Homes, His Friends, and His Work (1898) and Browning, Poet and Man (1899). Her combined interest in literature and the visual arts found reflection in her next biographical and critical studies: The Rossettis: Dante Gabriel and Christina (1900) and William Morris, Poet, Craftsman, Socialist (1902). In 1904 she edited a volume of Rossetti's poems and published Emerson, Poet and Thinker, followed by The Novels of Henry James (1905), a well-rounded critical study. From 1907 she wrote exclusively about art and artists. In that year appeared her The Art of William Blake, and The Works of James McNeill Whistler. A group of "random studies" of less well-known Europeans, Artists Past and Present, was published in 1909. Miss Cary's clear and graceful style was admirably suited to her aim of stimulating a more general, less esoteric interest in art, and her books were well illustrated and designed. Meanwhile, in 1905, she had begun issuing from her home in Brooklyn a monthly art magazine, the Scrip. In 1908 Adolph S. Ochs, publisher of the New York Times, saw an issue while on a visit to the Cary home and was so impressed by its literary quality and critical insight that he suggested that Miss Cary join his staff. The Times had not previously had a special art critic. Always a modest, unassuming person, Miss Cary accepted the appointment with misgivings as to her qualifications, but from the start she proved a great success. The first decade of the twentieth century was a period of considerable controversy in the field of art criticism, with the emergence in the United States of a group of painters dedicated to modern art. Under the sponsorship of Alfred Stieglitz and his gallery at 291 Fifth Avenue in New York, A. H. Maurer, John Marin, Marsden Hartley, Arthur G. Dove, and others brought into the main stream of American aesthetic theory and practice ideas which were fermenting in France and Germany, including fauvism, cubism, and expressionism. Critical reactions were violently divided. Miss Cary then, as throughout her life, took a moderate position, supporting the values of the old but finding beauty and significance in the new. Her determination to be impartial was carried out with such extreme conscientiousness that she avoided social contacts with artists lest her opinions be swayed by personal considerations.

Back to Profile

Photos
Works

book

Emerson: Poet and Thinker (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from Emerson: Poet and Thinker Embodying the mod...)

The Novels of Henry James; A Study by Elisabeth Luther Cary

(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

Elisabeth Luther Cary: The Works of James McNeill Whistler (Classic Reprint) (Paperback); 2015 Edition

William Morris: Poet, Craftsman, Socialist (Illustrated)

(CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I.—Boyhood1 II.—Oxford Life21 III...)

The Art of William Blake: His Sketch-Book, His Water-Colours, His Painted Books

( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

August Lepère

(Leopold Classic Library is delighted to publish this clas...)

Browning, poet and man; a survey

(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

Books and My Food: Original Recipes with Literary Quotations for Every Day in the Year

(Leopold is delighted to publish this classic book as part...)

Elisabeth Luther Cary

Edit Profile

critic writer

Background

Elisabeth Luther Cary was born on May 18, 1867 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States. She was the only child of Edward Cary, an editorial writer on the staff of the New York Times, and Ellen Elisabeth (Luther) Cary.

Education

She was educated entirely at home, and her father's interest in world affairs, especially politics and finance, early contributed to her intellectual development. As a girl and a young woman she spent much time as a companion to her invalid mother, and during this enforced seclusion her interest in literature and art deepened. For ten years she studied art with Eleanor C. Bannister and with Charles Melville Dewey, both academically-minded teachers.

Career

Achievements

In 1908, she was named the first full-time art critic for the New York Times, where she worked for the next twenty five years. Following World War I, she helped encourage the founding of industrial arts schools and the introduction of machinery into the studio.