Lathrop Family Plot [ Section 27 Lot 46]
A family of successful female artists
Ida Pulis Lathrop (1859 - 1937)
Ida Pulis was one of seven children born on October 27, 1859, in Troy, N.Y. to Abraham William Pulis, a merchant and carpenter, and Catherine Sheffer. Growing up, the family often took in boarders to help with their finances.
She is a self-taught painter and became known for her still lifes and portraits. Her first exhibit was at the Academy of Design in New York City and garnered nationwide wide fame by the early 1900s. Ida was a member of the National Association of Women Artists, Painters, and Sculptors, and her style of painting was mainly in early 20th century Impressionism and Trompe I’oeil.
In 1885 she married Cyrus Clark Lathrop. They lived briefly in Minnesota, but a majority of their life was in Albany. They initially lived at 230 Washington Avenue where he operated a restaurant laundry business. Cyrus had a deep interest in assisting those less fortunate, especially children. In 1892 he helped establish the Albany Boys Club, serving as president and executive director. His work at the Boys Club led him to several appointed jobs within state government, most notably Inspector for the Board of Charities which oversaw orphan asylums, institutions, and hospitals.
They first lived at 321 Hamilton Street before building a home at 151 South Allen Street in 1904, Ida designed the home to include two rooms which served as her studio. Their backyard was filled with apple trees and “an assortment of cages that housed the family’s numerous pets.” Some of these pets include goats, squirrels, porcupines, sheep, turtles, and raccoons.
Ida and Cyrus had three daughters; Dorothy, Gertrude, and Marguerite who died before she was two years old. Both Dorothy and Gertrude followed in her footsteps and became well-known artists, and the three worked out of the same studio. On occasion the Lathrops had group shows in Albany at Albany Institute, as well as New York City. On one occasion in 1930, Eleanor Roosevelt and her mother-in-law, Sarah Delano Roosevelt, hosted an opening night party for them inviting their close friends, which they referred to as “a great success.”
Ida died on September 7, 1937, at the age of 77 following a brief illness. At the time of her death she was finishing up a group of paintings which were going to be exhibited at Albany Institute of History and Art later that year. A bust of Ida, done by her daughter Gertrude, is on permeant collection at Albany Institute.
Before her death, she was featured in a show at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. where she contributed a still-life, “Content.” Today several galleries have her work in permanent collections, and the last time one of her pieces went up for auction it sold for $15,000 at Christie’s.
Dorothy P. Lathrop (1891 - 1980)
Known as America’s Beatrix Potter, Dorothy Pulis Lathrop was born on April 16, 1891, the eldest daughter of Cyrus Lathrop and Ida Pulis. She attended Albany City Schools and later Columbia University where she obtained a degree in Art. Back in Albany she taught art at Albany High School and did freelance work for several magazines. She was determined to become an illustrator and went back to school to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, moving to New York City afterward.
While in New York City she was introduced to Alfred A. Knopf, who recently established publishing firm highlighting European authors to feature in the United States. He paired her work up with the English poet and writer, Walter de la Mare and in 1919, her illustrations appeared in the children’s book The Three Mulla-Mulgars also known as “The Three Royal Monkeys.” The partnership between the two became close and worked with him on five other books.
Dorothy made a successful career illustrating almost 50 children’s books and wrote a number of them herself. Her grandfather owned a bookstore Dorothy is quoted saying that “during the early years, I wrote more than I drew.” In 1929 she was co-winner of the Newbury Medal, awarded by the American Library Association on the book Hitty, Her First Hundred Years. which was authored by Berkshire Count native, Rachel Field. In 1931 Dorothy was a runner up for the award for The Fairy Circus which she wrote and illustrated. She received another award in 1938 for her illustrations in Animals of the Bible by Helen Dean Fish, which received the firth Randolph Caldecott Medal by the Association for Library Services to Children.
Some of her other well-known children’s books include A Little Boy Lost(1920), Down-Adown-Derry: A Book of Fairy Poems(1922), The Treasure of Carcassonne(1926), Mopsa the Fairy (1927), Bouncing Betsy(1936), Han Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid(1939), Mr. Bumps and His Monkey(1942), and The Dog in the Tapestry Garden(1962). In addition to animals, she did portraits and printmaking, specifically woodblock prints; she served as a founding member of the Albany Print Club. In 1949 she became an Associate Academician at the National Academy of Design and was a member of the Society of Independent Artist, and the National Association for Women Artists.
In 1954 she and her sister moved to Falls River, Connecticut where she lived the remainder of her life, but visited Albany frequently. Dorothy Lathrop died on December 30, 1980, at the age of 89. Her works can be found in at the Albany Institute of History and Art, Mobile Museum of Art, New Mexico Museum of Art, University of Saint Joseph Art Gallery, and Print Club of Albany.
Gertrude K. Lathrop (1896 - 1986)
Gertrude Katherine Lathrop was born on December 24, 1896, in Albany to Cyrus Clark Lathrop and Ida Pulis. Like her mother and sister, she exhibited a strong passion for art and a love of animals, specifically Pekinese dogs. Her preferred medium was medal, specifically bronze.
In 1918 she attended the Art Student League in New York City, studying under Gutzon Borglum, later known for the creation of Mount Rushmore. Gertrude also attended the School of American Sculpture in 1920 and 1921. Her first exhibition was in 1921 at the National Academy of Design, and over the next 50 years, her was included at the National Sculpture Society. During the summer of 1924, Gertrude lived in Gloucester, Massachusetts where she studied with Charles Grafy, the noted bronze sculptor who created many sculptures for several international Exhibitions, world’s fairs, and war memorials.
Her work with Grafy came in handy in 1933 when she won a competition sponsored by the City of Albany looking for an additional memorial at Memorial Grove. Located on the corner of South Lake and New Scotland Avenue south of the Dudley Observatory, Memorial Grove was created to pay homage to the soldiers who served and those who died in World War I. As the original design of the was altered for reasons lost to history, the city officials felt more was needed to be done to honor the veterans at Memorial Grove. Her design was a large flagpole, inscribed with the names of the men from Albany who died and embellished with symbolic Albany beavers.
Gertrude was also an early environmentalist where she became concerned about “preserving wilderness and wildlife” where she advocated for animal rights, specifically the use of fur within the fashion industry. In 1938 was commissioned to do a medal for the 18th issue of the Society of Medalists. Her medal included the wood duck, which at the time was an endangered species only found living on reservations due to the draining of wetlands throughout the United States.
Like her mother, she was a member of the National Association of Women Artists, Painters, and Sculptors. Additionally, she was a member of the Society of Animal Painters and Sculptors; an elected member, National Academy of Design; National Institute of Arts and Letters; Society of Medalists; American Numismatic Society; and National Sculpture Society Association.
Throughout her career she received a number of awards: Honorable Mention at the Art Institute of Chicago (1924); National Academy of Design (1928); Saltus Gold Medal for merit (1970); Medal of Honor, Allied Artists of America (1964); and Silver Medal, Pen and Brush Club (1967).
In 1954 she moved to Falls River, Connecticut with her sister and lived there for the rest of her life. Gertrude passed away on March 16, 1986, of pneumonia at Sharon Hospital in Sharon, C.T. She was 89 years old. Her work can be found in many collections which include Albany Public Library; Brookgreen Gardens; Houston Public Library; National Collection of Fine Arts, Washington D.C.; and the Smithsonian Institute.