Myra Albert Wiggins was an American painter and pictorial photographer who became a member of the important early 20th century Photo-Secession

Photo-Secession

The Photo-Secession was an early 20th century movement that promoted photography as a fine art in general and photographic pictorialism in particular. A group of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz and F...

 movement.

Early years (1869-1889)

Wiggins, née

NEE

NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...

Myra Jane Albert, was born on December 15, 1869 in Salem, Oregon

Salem, Oregon

Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...

. She was the second of four children born to John Henry Albert and Mary Elizabeth Holman. Her father worked his way from being a bookkeeper in a local linseed oil company to becoming president of the Capital National Bank in Salem.

She showed natural artistic talent at an early age, and she would spend hours drawing and painting both in her home and in the fields around Salem. Her parents encouraged her talent both because she was very good and because a cultural background in the arts was expected for upper class women of the time. When she was 17, she won the first of many awards for painting at the Oregon State Fair

Oregon State Fair

-National Register of Historic Places:The state fairground is the site of two historic buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Oregon State Fair Stadium and Poultry Building Ensemble. The 1919 horse stadium and the 1921 poultry building were added to the register in 2002...

, and between 1886 and 1907 she won a total of 94 more state fair awards for her art.

About 1888 she met her future husband, Frederick Arthur Wiggins, who was the owner of a local store that was one of the first to offer a variety of products under one roof. Among the products he offered were bicycles, which at that time were first becoming a craze among younger people, and Myra recalled that she first met Fred while riding around town on her bicycle. Their families were very active in outdoor activities, and several times a year they would see each other at outings in the area.

Wiggins said that her introduction to photography was her brother's doing since he wanted to take a photograph of his sweetheart and, not having a camera, thought their father would be more likely to buy one if both of them said they would use it. In 1889, they acquired a large glass-plate camera and tripod, and soon she was using it far more than her brother. Some of her first pictures were taken on one of her family's many trips to the Oregon Coast

Oregon Coast

The Oregon Coast is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It runs generally north-south along the Pacific Ocean, forming the western border of the state; the region is bounded to the east by the Oregon Coast Range. The Oregon Coast stretches approximately from the Columbia River in the north to...

.

Within two years she won a new camera as first prize in the amateur division of a competition held by West Shore Magazine, and many of the photographs she submitted for the contest were exhibited at the Portland North Pacific Industrial Exposition in 1890.

Becoming an artist (1890-1899)

Like many progressive women of the late 19th century, Myra was sent to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 for her higher education. She studied at the Art Students League of New York

Art Students League of New York

The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...

 from 1891-1894, where she took classes from William Merritt Chase

William Merritt Chase

William Merritt Chase was an American painter known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons The New School for Design.- Early life and training :He was born in Williamsburg , Indiana, to the family...

 and John Twachtman. Chase in particular influenced her thinking about art, and when she brought her photographs for him to view he would sometimes write comments on the back of them. She immortalized Chase in a famous 1891 photograph of the artist teaching at the league, surrounded by his female students.

While she was studying in New York, she would return to Salem during the summers, and in the summer of 1892, she announced her engagement to Fred Wiggins. When she returned to New York that fall, she became one of the first female members of the New York Camera Club. She used the club's darkroom facilities, and it was here that she met Joseph Keiley

Joseph Keiley

Joseph Turner Keiley was an early 20th century photographer, writer and art critic. He was a close associate of photographer Alfred Stieglitz and was one of the founding members of the Photo-Secession...

, an influential photographer, writer, and close friend of Alfred Stieglitz

Alfred Stieglitz

Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form...

.

She and her fiancé were married on November 24, 1894 in Salem, and their daughter Mildred, their only child, was born in 1896.

Master of photography (1900-1929)

In 1900, Wiggins was given first of two one-woman exhibitions of her photography at the Chicago Art Institute. She had already met and corresponded with the most important photographer of the time, Alfred Stieglitz, and in 1903 he admitted her as a member in the newly formed Photo-Secession

Photo-Secession

The Photo-Secession was an early 20th century movement that promoted photography as a fine art in general and photographic pictorialism in particular. A group of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz and F...

.

In the fall of 1903, one of Wiggins photographs was included in the Hamburg Jubilee Exhibition in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and in the London Salon organized by the famous Linked Ring. A review of the latter exhibition in the British magazine Photography contains these words of praise:

"All things considered, we consider Mrs. Wiggins' picture called Polishing Brass one of the finest in the whole room. It certainly is the most pictorial, and is exactly like a print by Chodowiecke

Daniel Chodowiecki

Daniel Niklaus Chodowiecki was a Polish - German painter and printmaker with Huguenot ancestry, who is most famous as an etcher...

 [sic], both in subject and feeling. A woman is seated at a table with metal utensils of quaint and interesting form. The whole thing is quiet, healthy, and exceedingly well-designed – an example for hundreds."

In 1904, Wiggins was one of five Oregon delegates selected to go on a "Cruise of the Christians" to attend the World's Fourth Sunday School Convention in Jerusalem. She photographed scenes both on the boat and when she arrived, often developing the film in her room at night. On the return trip she stopped in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 specifically to see major photographic salons that were on exhibit at the time. Later that year she published Letters from a Pilgrim (Salem: Statesman Publishing), a photographically illustrated description of her journey to the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

.

That same year, Stieglitz sent 200 photographs representing the best artists of the Photo-Secession

Photo-Secession

The Photo-Secession was an early 20th century movement that promoted photography as a fine art in general and photographic pictorialism in particular. A group of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz and F...

 to the Hague International Photography Exhibition. Among those artists he included were Wiggins and her Oregon colleague Sarah Ladd. Wiggins also had photographs published in several important magazines, including Photo-Era, The Photo Miniature, Photograms of the Year and Die Kunst in Der Photographie (a high quality German quarterly similar to Camera Work

Camera Work

Camera Work was a quarterly photographic journal published by Alfred Stieglitz from 1903 to 1917. It is known for its many high-quality photogravures by some of the most important photographers in the world and its editorial purpose to establish photography as a fine art...

).

Wiggins' mother Mary died in 1905 after being in a car wreck. Her father, who was driving, was not injured, but he suffered greatly from guilt and anguish in the following years.

In 1906, she was included in the invitational exhibit "The Work of Women Photographers of America" at the Camera Club of Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

. Wiggins was one of 26 women who were presented in the show. Later that year two of her photographs were included in the annual members exhibit at Stieglitz's Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession in New York.

By 1907, Fred Wiggins wanted to enter the plant nursery business and he moved his family to Toppenish

Toppenish, Washington

Toppenish is a city in Yakima County, Washington, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,949.-History:The General Allotment Act of 1887 granted an allotment of land to a woman of half Indian ancestry, Josephine Bowser Lillie, known as "The Mother of Toppenish"...

 in central Washington. Fred started the Washington Nursery Company, and Wiggins tried to help her husband financially by opening an art studio and school. Her new hometown area was much more rural and undeveloped than Salem, and much of the countryside around the town was dry and dusty. The dust caused health problems for Wiggins, and it was several years before she could produce a regular income from her painting.

Wiggins continued to photograph as much as her health allowed, and she exhibited again at the Little Galleries in New York and at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition in San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

. Fellow Photo-Secessionist Anne Brigman

Anne Brigman

Anne Wardrope Brigman was an American photographer and one of the original members of the Photo-Secession movement in America. Her most famous images were taken between 1900 and 1920, and depict nude women in primordial, naturalistic contexts.-Life:Brigman was born in the Nuuanu Valley above...

 commented on Wiggins' photos in the latter show, saying she "invariably infuses her work with an atmosphere of tender sadness."

Over the next decade Wiggins' photos were shown in many important exhibitions, including the International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography in New York City (1909), the Annual Pictorial Photography Invitation in Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

 (1910) and the landmark International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography (1910) at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Albright-Knox Art Gallery

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery is an art museum located in Delaware Park in Buffalo, New York. The gallery is a major showplace for modern art and contemporary art. It is located directly across the street from Buffalo State College.-History:...

 in Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

. Encouraged by the interest in her work by other photographers in Seattle, Wiggins started to spend more time in that city.

From the mid-1910s to the late 1920s, she alternated between helping her husband with his business and taking her photographs to Seattle when there was enough money to go. During this time she also developed an interest in lecturing about her work, other photographers and about art in general.

In 1928, the Seattle Fine Arts Society gave Wiggins her last one-woman photography exhibit.

Master of painting (1930-1956)

In 1930, Wiggins co-founded the Women Painters of Washington

Women Painters of Washington

The Women Painters of Washington is a non-profit organization based in the U.S. state of Washington. The group was formed on October 6, 1930 by six female artists who met while attending a portrait class sponsored by the Art Institute of Seattle, which was a predecessor to the Seattle Art Museum...

, one of the state's oldest existing arts organizations. Through her lecturing and classes, she became a vital force in most of the region's arts activities. In 1932 she moved permanently to Seattle.

She continued to paint for many years and was recognized for her artistry through retrospective exhibits at the Seattle Art Museum

Seattle Art Museum

The Seattle Art Museum is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It maintains three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, and the Olympic Sculpture Park on the central Seattle waterfront, which opened on...

 (1953) and the de Young Museum

M. H. de Young Memorial Museum

The M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, commonly called simply the de Young Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. It is named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H...

 in San Francisco (1954). She also had one-person shows of her paintings in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

 and New York. By the time she turned 86 in 1955, she had completed 114 paintings.

On January 13, 1956 Wiggins died of a stroke. She was actively painting up until the time of her death. Her husband died in an accident four months later.

Her work is in the permanent collections several important museums, including the Portland Art Museum

Portland Art Museum

The Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon, United States, was founded in 1892, making it the oldest art museum on the West Coast and seventh oldest in the United States. Upon completion of the most recent renovations, the Portland Art Museum became one of the twenty-five largest art museums in...

, the Getty Museum and the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

.

Further reading

• Glauber, Carole. "Myra Albert Wiggins: Arts and Crafts Photographer", Style 1900, May 1999.
• Glauber, Carole. "A Wandering Lens - Myra Albert Wiggins: Photographer, Artist and Mentor", Artifact Magazine, March/April 1996.