Katherine Sophie Dreier

Katherine Sophie Dreier (September 10, 1877 – March 29, 1952) was an American artist, lecturer, patron of the arts, and social reformer. Dreier developed an interest in art at a young age and was afforded the opportunity of studying art in the United States and in Europe due to her parents' wealth and progressive attitudes. Her sister Dorothea, a Post-Impressionist painter traveled and studied with her in Europe. She was most influenced by modern art, particularly by her friend Marcel Duchamp, and due to her frustration with the poor reception that the works received, she became a supporter of other artists. She was co-founder of the Society of Independent Artists and the Société Anonyme, which had the first permanent collection of modern art, representing 175 artists and more than 800 works of art. The collection was donated to Yale University. Her works were exhibited in Europe and the United States, including the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art.

Dreier was also an active suffragette, attending the sixth convention of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in Stockholm, Sweden as a delegate. She was the head of the New York City's German-American Committee of the Woman Suffrage party in 1915 and treasurer of the organization her mother established, German House for Recreation of Women and Children. She co-founded the German House for Recreation of Women and Children, and was its president. Two of her sisters were social reformers, Mary Dreier and Margaret Dreier Robins.

Personal life

Katherine Sophie Dreier was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 10, 1877. About this she stated "I was born in 1877. By a happy coincidence, three hundred years after Rubens ― and this fact has always influenced me. I had the feeling that some of his vitality and sensitiveness of color was a part of my artistic inheritance." Her parents, Theodor Dreier, a successful businessman, and Dorothea Dreier, were both immigrants from Germany. Her mother's maiden name was Dreier and her parents were cousins from Bremen, Germany. Their ancestors were civic leaders and merchants. Theodor came to the United States in 1849 and became partner of the English iron firm of Naylor, Benson and Company's New York branch. He married Dorothea in 1864 during a visit to Bremen, brought her back with him to the United States, and they lived in a brownstone house in Brooklyn Heights, New York.

Katherine Dreier had an older brother and three older sisters. Two of her sisters, Mary Elisabeth and Margaret were suffragettes and labor reformers. Her sister Dorothea was a Post-Impressionist painter. The family was a warm, close family, and Dreier was especially close to Mary, who she saw as an incredibly good person.

The Dreiers believed in offering the same opportunities to their daughters as would be made available to their son. They were democratic politically and cherished their German traditions. Dreier took art lessons each week when she was 12 years of age and she attended George Brackett, a private school in Brooklyn.

Her family was active in social causes in the community and from a young age, Dreier was involved in social and charitable causes. By 1900 her mother founded the German House for Recreation of Women and Children, where Katherine was treasurer on a volunteer basis from 1900 to 1909. She co-founded the Little Italy Neighborhood Association in Brooklyn in 1905 and was its president. Five years later she became one of the first directors of the Manhattan Trade School, an organization that sought to train young girls in the manual trades.

She met and became the fiancé of American painter Edward Trumbull, also known as Edward Trumbull-Smith, when she lived in London in 1911. In August 1911, she married him in Brooklyn at her home at 6 Montague Terrace, Brooklyn. Her brother-in-law, Raymond Robins, officiated the ceremony. Within weeks of the marriage, Dreier found out that he was already married and was convinced “that an English marriage was not legally binding in America.” She printed cards and mailed them to those who had received wedding announcements. The cards stated “The marriage on Aug. 8th of Katherine S. Dreier and Edward Trumbull being void on account of the existence of a former wife of Mr. Trumbull from whom he was not legally free, and the parties not having lived together as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. H Edward Dreier hereby recall their announcement of the marriage sent out before this fact was known.” This annulled the marriage and she subsequently returned to London.

A suffragette, she was involved in the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, attending its sixth convention in Stockholm, Sweden in 1911 as a delegate. She was the head of the New York City's German-American Committee of the Woman Suffrage party in 1915.

Dreier settled in the Long Ridge section of Danbury, Connecticut, just north of the town line with Redding, in 1920, where she resided for over two decades. During her time in the artist colony of Long Ridge, Dreier developed plans for a “Country Museum” at her home, The Haven, intended to house both the Société Anonyme collection and her personal collection of modern art. After unsuccessful efforts to secure support from Yale University, portions of the collection were transferred to the Yale Art Gallery beginning in 1941. Following Yale’s final refusal to fund the proposed museum, Dreier sold The Haven and relocated to Milford, Connecticut.

Dreier was financially secure following receipt of an inheritance after the death of her parents in the late 1890s.

Education

Dreier studied art from 1895 to 1897 at the Brooklyn Art School. In 1900 she studied with her sister Dorothea at the Pratt Institute. She went to Europe in 1902 and traveled and studied the Old Masters there for two years with Mary Quinn and Dorothea. When she returned, Dreier had private lessons from painter Walter Shirlaw, who gave her a great foundation in the fundamentals of art and encouraged individual expression. For a quarter of a year in 1907, Dreier studied with Raphaël Collin in Paris and spent part of a year in 1912 studying under Gustaf Britsch, who she found to be the most accomplished of her teachers.